


ti 



A MEMORIAL 



OF 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D.D., 



PREACHER, PASTOR, POET, SCHOLAR. 



1 Custodi innocentiam, et vidi aequitatem : quoniam sunt reliquiae homini pacifico." 



PREPARED BY 

/ 

EDWARD T. HISCOX, D. D. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 

1420 Chestnut Street. 
1894. 






104.1 



01 



DBDICATION 



TO THE FAMILY, 

SO TENDERLY BELOVED AND SO GREATLY BEREAVED; 

TO THE CHURCHES 

HE SO FAITHFULLY SERVED, SO GREATLY EDIFIED, AND BY 
WHOM HE IS SO GRATEFULLY REMEMBERED; 

TO HIS BRETHREN IN THE MINISTRY, 

WHOSE FELLOWSHIP HE CHERISHED, WHOSE LIVES HE INFLU- 
ENCED, AND BY WHOM HE WAS BOTH 
HONORED AND REVERED; 

TO THE CAUSE OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH, 

SO DEAR TO HIS HEART, AND TO WHICH HE GAVE THE BEST 
ENERGIES OF A LONG AND SUCCESSFUL LIFE; 

THIS MEMORIAL, 

SO INADEQUATE TO DO JUSTICE TO ONE OF THE BEST 

AND NOBLEST OF MEN, 

IS WITH 

REVERENCE AND AFFECTION 

DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The following pages require neither apology 
nor explanation, except to confess them utterly 
inadequate to give full expression to the worth 
of the subject as estimated by the writer, or the 
reverence and affection in which he was held by 
the family, for whom and by whose request this 
memento has been prepared. It is designed for 
private reflection, rather than for public com- 
ment ; for the hearts that loved him ; for the 
home which suffered so sad an eclipse when he 
left it; for the churches which he edified and by 
whom he was honored ; and for that wide circle 
of personal friends in whose love and respect he 
had so large and so warm a place. But no im- 
perfections of this memorial can detract from the 
honors with which so noble a life was invested, 
or dim the radiance of so pure a spirit and so 
resplendent a character as was his. It cannot 
hope, and does not affect to enhance them, but 
sets them forth, if possible, so as not to obscure 

5 



6 PREFACE. 

them. If a composite picture of a superb charac- 
ter and a beautiful life has been produced, with a 
sufficiently fair degree of fidelity to aid in keep- 
ing fresh in both memory and affection the 
original, its object will have been accomplished. 
The work might have been done by many an 
abler, but by no more appreciative, loving, or 
loyal hand. 



A MEMORIAL 



OF 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER. D. D. 



i. 

Oh, leave this wretched, mouldering house of clay, 
Shattered and tumbling down to earth and dust ; 

God's faithful hand will, at the appointed day, 
A glorious form, restore the sacred trust. 

A. G. Palmer. 

The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. — Psalm. 

He that liveth and believeth shall never die. — Jesus. 

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
night in his temple. — Apocalypse. 

No human power can obliterate from the 
world in which it has had a place, or from the 
history of which it has been a part, the salutary 
influence of a good and a noble life. The fra- 
grance lives after the flowers which produced it 
have been crushed and perished. Though its 
place cannot be found, nor its path be followed, 
yet, absorbed into universal ether, it helps to 
make the universe purer and sweeter. The 
world loses treasures richer than it knew itself to 
have possessed, and more than it knows how to 

7 



g A MEMORIAL OF 

lament the loss of, when death removes the good 
from its midst. Their true memorials are in the 
hearts of those who loved them. Their real 
monuments are the works they performed, which 
cannot die with them. But we do well to gather 
up the mementoes of the lives which we honor 
and would cherish, and place them about us as 
silent but sacred monitors of the past. They 
are frail, though possibly effectual, reminders of 
what we have lost, and therefore of what we 
once possessed, and help to keep fresh and green 
in our memory and in our hearts the virtues 
which we prize and honor. Though gone, our 
loved ones are not dead. Though hidden from 
sight, they are still with us. Though the mortal 
bonds which bound us are sundered, they still are 
ours. They lived in our hearts and homes while 
here, and their lives mingled with ours and 
molded them in all that was good and true. 
Even yet they are our comfort and inspiration. 
And when at last we too shall cease from earth, 
our pulseless hearts shall be the silent tombs of 
cherished memories whose resurrection shall hail 
the radiant portals of life, and welcome the 
glories of an endless day. 

Albert Gallatin Palmer was born May n, 
1813, in North Stonington, in the State of Con- 
necticut. He was the third son of Luther and 
Sarah K. Palmer, and the sixth child in a family 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 9 

of seven sons and seven daughters. The Pal- 
mers are of old New England Puritan stock, 
whose numerous branches are scattered widely 
over all parts of our country, especially through 
the Eastern, Middle, and Western States. They 
are to be found in all departments of business 
and professional life, and no strain of early New 
England society has filled more honorably or 
usefully the various industrial and official posi- 
tions than have they. 

North Stonington consists of the northern 
portion of the original town of Stonington, 
erected into a separate township for the greater 
convenience of its citizens. It lies back from the 
seashore from eight to twenty miles, and is, for 
New England, a good and fruitful farming 
country. The people are well-to-do farmers for 
the most part, manufacturing and commercial 
enterprises having not as yet — certainly not at 
the time of which we write — invaded that quiet 
region, as they have not to any considerable ex- 
tent even till now. The people constituted an 
intelligent, hard-working community, procuring 
an abundant support by honest industry. Their 
children were reared in virtuous habits, and were 
educated with such facilities as the times af- 
forded. To a great extent the people were relig- 
ious, and the "meeting house" and the "school 
house " were essential parts of every town. 
Very largely through this section of Connecticut 



10 A MEMORIAL OF 

and the adjoining State of Rhode Island, the 
people were Baptists. They procured com- 
petency of living by honest labor, worshiped 
God with sincerity, educated their children in 
intelligence and good morals, as the best legacy 
they could bequeath to the next generation. 

The old Palmer homestead, roomy, homelike, 
and comfortable, with its shade trees and out- 
buildings fitted for the conveniences of farming 
life, stands on the old post road from Westerly, 
distant ten miles, and Stonington Borough, dis- 
tant fifteen miles, leading through Milltown, and 
running on north to Voluntown, Sterling, and 
Plainfield in Windham County. It traverses for 
the most part the "hill country" of Eastern 
Connecticut. The particular location of " the 
Palmer place" is now known as " Pendleton 
Hill," which designates its post office, several 
families of Pendletons having resided in the im- 
mediate neighborhood. Formerly it was known by 
the more poetical, and perhaps the more appro- 
priate, title of Pauchunganuc Hill, a name pre- 
serving the memory of the early Indian occupants 
and traditions of these romantic regions. The 
house has undergone many changes and a consid- 
erable enlargement, but a part of the present 
building was a portion of that in which he was 
born. The front yard has been transformed, and 
is now decorated with flowering shrubbery, and 
in summer time is fragrant with pots and tubs of 



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ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 1 1 

flowering plants. The most conspicuous of the 
trees which shade the place is an immense willow 
on the right of the entrance from the country 
road, standing in an angle of the meadow wall 
and throwing a gigantic arm entirely across the 
driveway from the road to the barn behind the 
house. As to this venerable and grand old tree, 
there is a domestic tradition which has some 
slight variations as related by different members 
of the family. The children of Dr. Palmer state 
that he had often told them that when a boy he 
stuck the willow switch into the moist soil where 
it took root, and through the years of his life 
grew to its present enormous proportions, still 
flourishing in almost perpetual youth, though the 
hand that planted it has mouldered into dust. 

From this elevated outlook an extensive and 
most charming view presents itself, a wide and 
varied landscape of surpassing rural beauty. 
Woodland and intervale, green pastures and cul- 
tivated fields, rich meadowlands and orchards, 
with farm houses dotting the extended view. On 
the east, the eye, sweeping over a lovely and 
quiet valley, catches sight of the silvery Paucatuc, 
pursuing its sinuous and romantic course to the 
sea not far away, and marking the boundary line 
between the States of Connecticut and Rhode 
Island. At the south, the Atlantic lays in fair 
view, and with a clear atmosphere Block Island, 
fifteen miles out at sea and thirty miles away 



12 A MEMORIAL OF 

from the observer, can be distinctly seen by the 
naked eye. It is even declared that Montauk 
Point lighthouse can be seen from this elevation 
without the aid of a glass. One who was a play- 
mate and schoolmate of the subject of this 
sketch, born in the same neighborhood and at 
about the same time, says : " There is not another 
place on earth so precious to me as Pendleton 
Hill. It is beautiful for situation." * 

It was in this sphere of natural beauty that 
Albert G. Palmer first saw the light, and where 
the years of his childhood and youth were spent. 
These charms of nature in rural life were calcu- 
lated to make a deep and lasting, though per. 
haps at the time an unconscious impression on 
his sensitive and poetic temperament. It is not 
likely that he could then have analyzed the emo- 
tions which these external pictures produced in 
his mind, or trace their subtle influence on him in 
after years. But they surely went far to mold and 
fashion the character and life which grew to such 
proportions of symmetry and nobleness. This 
early fellowship with nature made its impression 
on his delicate and responsive nature, and fostered, 

* Rev. B. F. Chapman, at present (Jan. 16, 1892) living in Andover, 
Conn. Of Mr. Palmer, he says : " We were about the same age, and it 
was only some five minutes walk from our house to his father's. We used 
to be together daily. He was the third son of a family of thirteen chil- 
dren, and I was the third son of a family of thirteen children." The 
Palmer family had fourteen children, but one dying in infancy occasioned 
the above estimate as to numbers. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, L>. D. 13 

if it did not create, that undercurrent of poetic 
•melody which even in childhood sang through his 
spirit, and in after life touched all his mental pro- 
cesses, and developed into more pronounced and 
rhythmic expressions of poetic inspiration.* He 
did, however, in subsequent years, attribute much 
of the idealistic and sympathetic in his nature to the 
pervading and molding influence of these scenes 
of loveliness with which his early years had fellow- 
ship. To him, as he grew older, they bore a 
charmed existence. Oft as he could he would 
revisit them, and drink in their inspiration with 
speechless delight. He never tired of wandering 
over his native hills and through the fields which 
recalled his childhood. He would roam from 
cellar to attic through the house where he was 
born, and live over again " the years of long 
ago." No other place on earth was so much 
home to him as that, and no other did he love 
so well. His poetic reference to it expresses 
that love : 

Hail, old Pauchunganuc, land of my birth ! 
Thy airy heights o'erlooking wide the sea ! 

To me thou art the dearest spot on earth, 
Home of a proud and noble ancestry, 

I never may forget, where'er I roam, 

The beauties of my childhood's highland home. 

* A volume of poetic excerpta, edited by his daughter, Miss Sara A. 
Palmer, was issued in 1884 from the press of Lockwood, Brainard & Co., 
Hartford, Conn., which received marked commendations not only from 
personal friends, but from literary men and authors, including the . poet 
Whittle r. 
2 



14 A MEMORIAL OF 

It is noted that he was not naturally a remark- 
ably strong and rugged child. But out-of-door 
habits, a plenty of exercise in the pure air, work 
on the farm, and such a life as children bred in 
the country have the advantage of living, with 
great nervous and mental vitality, gave a founda- 
tion for good health through a long and very 
active life. He was fond of boyish sports, but 
still more fond of books, the supply of which at 
that day, to a boy bred in the country, was by no 
means abundant. His father was a great reader, 
but books were a luxury even to him. At school 
he was an apt and studious pupil, distancing the 
greater part of his schoolmates in their common 
studies. But he was, as one of his contempo- 
raries asserts, a general favorite among the chil- 
dren, whether in the schoolroom, on the play- 
ground, or elsewhere. 

As to his name, it is related that at his birth 
there was not an agreement concerning a title for 
the new comer, and for some little time the child 
was nameless. While an infant in the cradle, 
the Hon. Albert Gallatin was a conspicuous 
figure in American politics. Mr. Gallatin was a 
native of Switzerland, but came early to this 
country, in 1780, took active part in the struggle 
of the colonies for independence, was a partici- 
pant in the later years of the Revolutionary War, 
and subsequently a United States senator. Under 
President Jefferson, he was for a time secretary 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 15 

of the treasury, and subsequently special com- 
missioner to Great Britain to arrange terms of 
peace. Afterward he was sent as minister to 
Paris, and later still as ambassador extraordinary 
to London. Mr. Palmer concluded it would be 
every way appropriate to have in his family a 
namesake of so distinguished a statesman and 
patriot whom he so greatly admired. And so 
the child was named Albert Gallatin. 



16 A MEMORIAL OP 



II. 

His Childhood and Youth. 

At the early age of two and a half years, he 
suffered the greatest loss which can befall infancy 
or childhood, in the death of his mother. A loss 
which no amount of sympathy and kindness 
ministered, by surviving friends can ever, under 
ordinary circumstances, fully make good. All 
that could be done to mitigate such a bereave- 
ment was done by the kindness of his father and 
the affectionate interest of older brothers and 
sisters, and subsequently by the prudent and 
faithful care and the truly loving ministry of a 
step-mother, who later came into the family. 
Childhood has its sorrows as well as mature 
years. But it is a merciful dispensation that they 
can be soon forgotten in the hopes and joys 
which share their companionship. His daughter 
writes : "I have so many things I want to tell 
you of what father has said to me of his child- 
hood. His love for his father, his feelings of 
perfect rest when, after the day's work was done, 
sitting at the evening hour before the great log 
fire, his father would take him between his knees, 
and pulling his head down, say, ' My good boy, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 1 7 

Allie.' Oh, he has so often told me of those 
days that I can see them now. How he used to 
watch with throbbing heart, if his father was a 
little late at coming home, or run down the dark 
road to meet him." Of the second mother, it is 
due to both her memory and his to say, that she 
proved a true mother to him as well as to the 
other children of her charge. He ever referred 
to her with the utmost respect and affection. 
Between her own and the children she received 
from the mother whose place she came to fill, 
no difference was shown. When he professed 
faith in Christ she bore the most positive testi- 
mony in favor of his conversion, from the evi- 
dence she gained in his daily life. And it is right 
to believe that her prayers mingled with those 
of the mother who bore him, and together were 
blessed of God to his early call and his assured 
conversion. And by a marked coincidence, he 
and his step-mother were baptized at the same 
time, and together received into the church. 

His boyhood was spent in active service, on the 
farm during the summer and at school during 
the winter months. The educational advantages 
of a country district at that time were very 
limited. But such as they were, he enjoyed and 
improved them, but longed for larger opportuni- 
ties. A contemporary of his school days bears 
witness to the excellency of his scholarship, and 
says that he was specially proficient in history, of 



18 A MEMORIAL OF 

which he was very fond. He also mentions the 
fact that, like his father, he was very fond of read- 
ing, and mentions two books which were his 
special favorites. The one was " Robinson Cru- 
soe," the ever and everywhere famed delight of 
childhood, and the other was " Pollock's Course 
of Time," whose gorgeous poetic imagery capti- 
vated his youthful fancy, and not only gratified, 
but nourished the poetic sentiment of his nature, 
so largely developed in later life. In a poem on 
" Self-culture," written later in life, he makes the 
following reference to the latter work as evidence 
of his appreciation of the author : 

Or happier far, like Pollock's sacred lyre 
Rapt in the visions of prophetic fire, 
Attuned in strains of melody sublime, 
In boyhood even, to his Course of Time. 

As to his religious feelings during childhood 
and youth, it is not so easy now to speak, since 
those who survive recall but few of his personal 
references to them, and most of those who may 
have been familiar with them at the time have 
passed away. At his examination by council for 
ordination, these were of course rehearsed, but 
no record survives ; and if any who were pres- 
ent on that occasion still live, they could not 
probaby recollect them with distinctness. It is, 
however, easy to believe that, surrounded by the 
influences of his childhood, attending church, and 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 19 

being in many ways brought in contact with re- 
ligious truth, his moral nature must have re- 
sponded by many serious thoughts and pungent 
convictions, even in his childhood, as to his per- 
sonal call to a religious life. Those too were 
times when revivals prevailed ; not unfrequently 
of wide extent and of great power. Direct ef- 
forts for the conversion of children were not then 
so common as now ; and even, in some cases, 
such efforts were discredited, if not discouraged. 
Nevertheless, children thought, and the Spirit 
touched their hearts, and the work of saving 
grace was at times magnified in childhood as well 
as in age. 

Called of God, as was Aaron, the time finally 
came when the calling and election were made 
manifest. His conversion occurred in the autumn 
of 1822, at the age of nine years, during a time 
of prevailing revival in the church and neighbor- 
hood under the ministry of the pastor, Rev. Jon- 
athan Miner. Having been brought out of dark- 
ness into light, it was his desire to be baptized, 
with other converts, at that time. But with the 
prevailing parental caution of the times, his father 
wished him to wait. Of course the baptism was 
put off, and this public dedication of himself to 
the service of Christ did not take place till July 
18, 1830. Eight years after he professed faith 
in the Saviour. At that time, according to the 
church records, he was buried with Christ in bap- 



20 A MEMORIAL OF 

tism by the pastor, Rev., or as he was universally 
known, Elder Jonathan Miner, a man of marked 
ability, of devout and godly spirit, widely known 
and of large influence through all Eastern Con- 
necticut ; and one of the last of that generation 
of noble men who, amidst great difficulties, 
contended earnestly for the faith once for all de- 
livered to the saints. Thus his baptism and 
uniting with the church occurred at the age of 
seventeen years. 




Albert G. Palmer. 
At the Age of Eighteen Years 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, V. D. 21 



III. 

His Life-work Begun. 

So soon as he became a member of the church, 
and thus publicly committed to a religious life, 
he began " to exercise and improve his gifts" in 
a public way, by taking part in religious meet- 
ings. Rev. B. F. Chapman, already mentioned, 
the companion of his boyhood, and personally 
familiar with his early Christian experience, says : 
"In 1 83 1, there was a precious revival in North 
Stonington, and both he and myself were quite 
active in the meetings. We held meetings to- 
gether without the presence of any minister. 
I had no idea at that time that either of us would 
ever become a preacher of the gospel." This 
was the year after his baptism. Whatever may 
have been the effect of these things on his own 
mind, it is very evident that they impressed the 
church with the conviction that he was called to 
be a preacher of the gospel. For the records 
show that November 4, 1832, the church voted 
him a license to hold meetings and expound the 
Scriptures with their approval. Such a letter 
was prepared and presented to the church for 



22 A MEMORIAL OF 

their approval by the pastor, Rev. Jonathan 
Miner, November 10, 1832.* 

What had been his thoughts and feelings with 
reference to the Christian ministry during the 
eight years which had elapsed since his conver- 
sion, we have no means of determining. The 
probability is that the subject had been frequently, 
if not constantly, present with him. For it is 
evident the Spirit was preparing him for the 
work. It is certain that soon after his baptism 
the subject took full possession of his mind. 
Not, however, as a welcome guest, but as one 
most unwelcome, which he was compelled to en- 
tertain. His was the singularly paradoxical and 
strangely contradictory experience of not a few 
divinely called to a ministry of the word, that of 
desiring and yet of dreading it ; of being both 
attracted and repelled by it. Rev. Mr. Chapman 
says : "I was the first he made acquainted with 
his trials concerning preaching. He was loath 
to undertake the work. He had rather die than 

* This license has been carefully preserved, and was found among his 
papers. It reads as follows : 

" We hereby certify that Brother Albert G. Palmer is a regular member 
of the First Baptist Church in North Stonington — that he is a man of good 
moral and Christian character — that for some time past he has been in the 
practice of improving his gifts by way of preaching, and in so doing has 
the fellowship of the church. We believe him one whom God has 
designed for the gospel ministry. 

By order and in behalf of the First Baptist Church in North Stonington, 
Conn. Smith Chapman, 

Church Clerk" 

N. Stonington, November 10, 1832. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 23 

preach, he said. He used to have seasons of 
earnest prayer that he might rather die than 
preach." But such feelings did not long con- 
tinue, and failed to control his life. 

All this may seem very strange to those unac- 
quainted with the operations of a sensitive and 
conscientious mind, under the pressure of grave 
responsibilities attending such a life-service as that 
of the Christian ministry, with its varied demands 
and multiplied difficulties. Very strange to some 
who have heard much talk about being " sweetly 
given up to the will of God, and having no wish but 
to do that will." There are many sides to these 
great questions of conscience, consecration, and 
submission ; and a divine philosophy is in them 
all, understood only by those who are led by the 
Spirit through them all. But his father was re- 
membered to have said, that " Albert was think- 
ing of little else than preaching, no matter what 
else he might be doing." Several now living 
state that they heard his first sermon. It was 
preached in the old meeting house on the hill, 
from the text, i Cor. 9 : 16 : " Woe is unto 
me if I preach not the gospel." He dwelt 
much upon the trials and sufferings of the 
apostle in the ministry of the gospel during his 
long and eventful life. 

This was in 1832, two years after his baptism, 
and at the age of nineteen years. Making a pe- 
riod of fifty-nine years between the preaching of 



24 A MEMORIAL OF 

his first and his last sermon. But this "first ser- 
mon " could not have been the first time he 
actually preached. Probably it was the first time 
he had been publicly advertised to preach. But 
from the time of his baptism he was accustomed 
to speak in the meetings, and sometimes to " lead 
the meetings," opening them with an address 
which was substantially a sermon. His daughter 
remembers to have heard him tell of preaching 
when scarcely more than sixteen, and wondering 
how he dared to attempt it. He especially men- 
tioned one occasion, when, at seventeen, having 
gone to Stonington Borough on business for his 
father, and being detained over night he attended 
an evening meeting, and -was persuaded to 
" speak to the people," which he did with great ac- 
ceptance to them, if not to himself. And the 
license given by the church mentions the fact 
that for some time past he had been accustomed 
to improve his gifts by preaching. It may here 
be noticed that the prevailing traits which marked 
his style of pulpit address remained from first to 
last. His preaching was characterized by an 
earnestness, an intensity of thought and of action, 
which never failed to command the serious atten- 
tion of his audiences. 

From the records of the Baptist Church in 
Andover, Conn., a few miles remote from North 
Stonington Church, it appears that he was in- 
vited to supply the pulpit of their church for one 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 25 

year, they being without a pastor at the time. 
After a good deal of hesitancy on his part, and 
considerable urgency on theirs, the invitation was 
accepted, and he served them from March, 1833, 
to March, 1834, with great acceptance. The 
compensation for his services as proposed by the 
church, and we believe faithfully paid, was: "Sal- 
ary $200, with board, and a new suit of clothes." 
For the times, and the church, which was small, 
and the fact that he was very young, the condi- 
tions seem to have been fairly just. Country 
churches at that time had not very enlarged no- 
tions as to the salaries of their pastors. Indeed, 
they had not usually very enlarged means for 
their supply. He certainly performed ministerial 
service enough, preaching three times each Sun- 
day : at 10.30 a. m., at 1 p. m., and at 5 p. m. in 
the summer ; and in the evening during the win- 
ter, probably at " candle lighting," which was the 
traditional hour for evening service, at whatever 
o'clock that might chance to be. The laborer 
certainly was worthy of his hire. 

How a young man without previous prepara- 
tion, save an occasional sermon, could be ex- 
pected to prepare and deliver three sermons 
each week, in addition to pastoral duties, prayer 
meetings, and other services, is more than one 
can comprehend ; and how he succeeded in 
doing it for a year, is more than one can com- 
prehend. No doubt the people thought it easy 



26 A MEMORIAL OF 

enough ; and many pastors, both old and young, 
have done the best they could to sustain such an 
arrangement. The custom of the people in 
those days in country-located churches, as many 
of us remember, was to have the forenoon 
sermon, then an hour of intermission for lunch, 
rest, and a little Sunday visiting by neighbors 
who seldom met at other times, and then another 
sermon ; after which they scattered to their 
homes. At the evening service, which was likely 
held in some convenient school house, the con- 
gregation consisted largely of young persons 
to whom attendance on an evening meeting was 
something of a recreation, as well as an occasion 
for worship. But it was no recreation to the 
pastor. 

There is a characteristic incident related in 
connection with the young preacher's engagement 
to supply the pulpit of the Andover Church. 
Rev. Levi Walker, a venerable preacher and 
friend of Albert's father, had an engagement to 
visit somewhere and preach. He took Albert 
along for company. On the Sunday of their 
absence, Mr. Walker had an appointment to 
preach at Andover. He finally succeeded in 
persuading his young companion to preach in 
his stead. The impression made on the people 
led the church, then and there, to request him to 
supply them permanently. He hesitated and 
declined ; but they were persistent. The next 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D, D. 27 

day he was to return home, but Deacon Lyman, 
with whom he was staying, was so intent on 
securing his services, and so fearful that he 
might fail, that he sent his son home with him, 
with instructions not to return without bringing 
Albert back. After consultation with his father, 
who finally favored the plan, he yielded and 
returned to spend a year as acting pastor at 
Andover. There is no doubt, though the year's 
work severely taxed his endurance and his 
resources, that nevertheless it was greatly bene- 
ficial to him as an experience in the ministry, as 
well as to the people he served. 



28 , A MEMORIAL OF 



IV. 

His Ordination Follows. 

As matters now stood, it was evident that his 
ordination and official setting apart to the work 
of the ministry, could not be long delayed. The 
church records show that at a meeting held Octo- 
ber 19, 1834, "A vote was passed that Albert G. 
Palmer be ordained next Sunday." This seems 
rather a sudden movement, judging from this 
entry alone. But the matter had evidently re- 
ceived previous consideration. "And at the re- 
quest of Elder Gideon B. Perry, it was also voted 
that the ordination take place at Hopkinton, R. I." 
This somewhat strange plan was carried out, and 
in the twenty-first year of his age, he was pub- 
licly set apart to the official work of the ministry, 
October 26, 1834, in the Baptist church, Hopkin- 
ton, R. I. It seemed inappropriate, and was 
quite contrary to the wishes of his family and 
church, that his ordination did not take place at 
his home. But they yielded to the earnest re- 
quest of Mr. Perry in the matter, against their 
own judgments and wishes.* 

*For the facts and statements from the records of " the Old Church on 
the Hill," I am chiefly indebted to Mr. Asher Chapman, a brother of Rev. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 29 

The foregoing facts need some explanation. 
Rev. Gideon B. Perry was a Baptist minister of 
great popularity as an eloquent preacher through 
Eastern Connecticut. Older than Mr. Palmer, 
he had become greatly interested in him and 
much attached to him. He evidently saw large 
promise of future usefulness and distinction in 
the young man now scarcely more than a boy. 
Notwithstanding the disparity in their ages, they 
became strongly attached and life-long friends. 
Mr. Perry had been preaching at the old church 
during a season of special religious interest, and 
was present at the church meeting above men- 
tioned. A new church had recently been formed 
at Hopkinton, R. I. (known as Hopkinton City), 
which church was to be formally recognized on 
the following Sunday. It was probably thought 
that the ordination of young Palmer at the same 
time would give additional interest to the occa- 
sion, and also obviate the necessity for calling 
another council at some other time and place. 
The church, however, granted the request of Mr. 
Perry, though reluctantly. But who it was that 
preached the ordination sermon on the occasion, 
and the names of the ministers who took part in 
the services, no data at present accessible deter- 



B. F. Chapman, who has for many years been clerk of the church, and 
holds the records in his possession. He still holds his membership there 
and con'inues to act as clerk, strange to say, though residing in Westerly, 
R. I., ten miles distant, and eighty-five years of age. 



30 A MEMORIAL OF 

mines beyond what the certificate of his ordina- 
tion states.* 

It may be of interest to add, that on Decem- 
ber 22, 1835, a ntt l e more than one year after 
his ordination, he received a call from the Hop- 
kinton Church to become its pastor through the 
church committee, consisting of Gideon B. Perry, 
Benj. B. Thurston, Henry M. Wells, and Charles 
Noyes. The salary offered was two hundred and 
fifty dollars. But the call was declined, for what 
reasons is not stated. 

Under date of June 7, 1835, the minutes show 
that the church voted Mr. Palmer a letter with 
which to unite with the church at Methuen, Mass. 
For what purpose this transfer of membership 
was made I have not been able definitely to as- 
certain. But as it was about this time he spent 
some months in theological studies at the semi- 
nary at Andover, Mass., the probability is that he 
concluded to hold his membership in the Methuen 
Church while so engaged. But his residence at 
Andover did not prove so pleasant, or promise 
so well as he had anticipated, and his stay was 
not very protracted. In October of the same 
year an arrangement was effected by which he 

* " This may certify that Albert G. Palmer was regularly set apart by 
ordination, to the work of the gospel ministry, at Hopkinton, R. I., October 
26, 1834, in accordance with a vote of the First Baptist Church, in North 
Stonington, of which said Palmer is a member." 

G. B. Perry, Moderator* 
Levi Meach, Clerk. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 31 

was secured to supply the pulpit of his own 
church in North Stonington till the following 
April. March 19, 1836, he was received back 
into the church by a letter from that in Methuen, 
and his ministry in the old church continued till 
April, 1837, when it was terminated by his ac- 
ceptance of a call extended to him by the Baptist 
church in Westerly, R. I. 

It was during this early period of his ministry 
thus terminated, that the writer first met him in 
the summer of 1836. There I heard him preach 
in the old house erected in 1830, and still stand- 
ing after various transformations, having taken 
the place of the original building in which the 
church had worshiped from its organization, in 
1743. This house has within a few years past 
been repaired and improved, and is a neat and 
attractive edifice, its services well attended, with 
a large number of young people in its congrega- 
tion. Its pastor for many years, Rev. D. F. 
Chapman, greatly beloved and lamented, lately 
died, after a long and painful illness. At this 
time of our first meeting, Mr. Palmer was twenty- 
three, in the flush, freshness, and enthusiasm of 
young manhood ; myself a few years younger. 
There began the brotherhood of sympathy and 
affection which continued without abatement or 
interruption till he was removed by death, — and 
still survives, in one at least, though loftier 
themes no doubt do now command his soul's re- 



32 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

gard. And it so happened that our ministerial 
lives were for many years cast near each other, 
and at no time were we very far removed apart ; 
and so we often met. 

The First Baptist Church in North Stonington 
is one of the oldest in Connecticut, having been 
constituted in September, 1743. It was all Ston- 
ington then, as the town had not as yet been 
divided. The church in Groton dates back to 
1705. Now there are at least three Baptist 
churches in North Stonington itself. It seems 
peculiarly fitting that one whose long. and able 
ministry was destined to exert such a molding 
and beneficent influence, and leave such deep 
and lasting impressions on Southeastern Con- 
necticut and Southwestern Rhode Island, should 
have had his early Christian and his earliest 
ministerial experience in the old historic church, 
on Pauchunganuc Hill.* His pastorate there, 

* The name is an Indian classic and is variously spelled and differently 
interpreted. Ordinarily, and for convenience, it is spoken Paukhunkanuk, 
or shorter still, Puckhunkanuk. But literary critics in this department of 
language insist that the proper spelling is that of the text above — 
Pauchunganuc. This is the spelling of Dr. Palmer himself in one of his 
idyls, and was, he claimed, the correct form of the word. As to its 
origin and meaning, there is- an equal diversity of opinion. Rev. B. F. 
Chapman, who spent his boyhood and youth and many of his later years 
in that immediate vicinity, and to whom I am indebted for many items of 
information, spells it Puckhonganock. He says the word is not found in 
any Indian vocabulary. He gives the following as the local tradition 
concerning its origin. An Indian, with his bow and arrow, shot a wild 
goose on the wing, and as the bird fell it struck upon an immense rock 
near by, uttering a cry which formed this word so distinctly that the 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, L>. D. 33 

however, was not destined to parallel, in length 
at least, those of his predecessors, four of whom 
remained with the church for from twenty to 
twenty-five years each. These periods, however, 
were far exceeded later in life by his pastorate in 
the old south-town where he finished his work. 
But when Mr. Palmer's ministry began, a period 
of transition to shorter pastorates had set in, a 
period of-more and more pronounced develop- 
ment, until the present time. Whether for good 
or ill, each one will judge for himself. The 
changes which have taken place in society appear 

Indian repeated it and applied it to the rock, by which name it was 
henceforth, known, and subsequently was applied to the whole neighbor- 
hood. That rock, he adds, " is a great curiosity, and people come from 
far to see it." When a post office was located in the place, the difficulty 
of speaking and writing the word led to a change of name, and it is now 
known as " Pendleton Hill," from a prominent family in whose house the 
office at first was located. The office now for several years, however, has 
been kept in the old Palmer mansion, the postmaster being Mr. Robert 
Palmer, a younger brother of the subject of this sketch. This famous 
rock is an immense boulder, lying in a field about a quarter of a mile from 
the Palmer homestead. It stands above ground eighteen feet, and is one 
hundred and eight feet in girth ; is of irregular shape, but somewhat oval 
and rounded, and is probably forty-five feet in length ■ by about thirty in 
thickness above the ground. I recently visited it and secured a photo- 
graph which appears herewith. How these immense boulders, wholly 
unconnected with any ledge or permanent rocky foundation, found their 
way to such lofty positions is left for scientific experts to determine. The 
above legend, as to the origin of the name, is rehearsed by him in a pastoral 
beginning : 

" Pauchunganuc, a famous rock, 

An Alpine monolithic block ; 

A boulder of cyclopean stock." 
He deeply regretted that the word, though difficult to speak, shall fall 
out of use, or cease to designate his birthplace, 



34 A 31 E 310 RIAL OF 

to make these changes in pastorates inevitable, 
however they may be deplored. The ideal pas- 
torate would seem to be the life-long pastorate. 
But such are not now to be expected ; and could 
they be realized, would not be without their trials 
and disadvantages, as most current protracted 
pastorates prove. 

The first pastor of this church was also a 
Palmer, Rev. Waite Palmer, ordained to the work 
and settled 1 743, the year the church was con- 
stituted. His pastorate continued for twenty-two 
years. His successor, Rev. Eliezer Brown held 
the office for twenty-five years. And his successor, 
Rev. Peleg Randall, served it as pastor twenty- 
three years. Rev. Jonathan Miner, the eighth 
pastor, and the one under whom our subject was 
converted and brought into the church, filled the 
pastoral office twenty years. After that the 
pastorates were brief. 

As to the first house of worship occupied by 
this body, I have failed to obtain any satisfactory 
information. Dr. Palmer often spoke of the 
recent improvements in the present edifice with 
peculiar pleasure. It seemed to him an evidence 
that the candlestick was not to be removed out 
of its place, but that the cause would be revived 
and enlarged on Pendleton Hill. In this same 
edifice, as at first constructed, he was converted, 
welcomed to the fellowship of the saints, and 
served the first year of his pastoral life. 




First Baptist Church, North Stonington, Ct. 
Erected in 1830. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 35 



V. 

Two Decisive Events. 

During the year 1837 transpired two events of 
marked and formative importance. One of these 
in a very special manner had its influence on his 
heart and life for all his after years. The first 
was his matriculation for a collegiate course of 
study in Brown University, Providence, R. I. 
His opportunities for academic studies, prepara- 
tory for this step, had been quite limited for want 
of suitable schools convenient of access. He had 
attended the academy at Kingston, R. I., where 
he pursued studies in Latin and Greek during the 
fall and winter terms. Afterward he continued 
these studies at the private classical school of 
Mr. Gallup, near his home. Subsequently, in 
connection with a few other young men, who 
clubbed together for boarding themselves and 
thus reducing expenses, his studies were further 
prosecuted at a school in Pawtucket, R. I. Such 
good use did he make of his time and opportuni- 
ties, that when he presented himself at college for 
examination, that dreaded crucial trial was suc- 
cessfully passed, and he was admitted to the fresh- 
man class at Brown for 1837. 



36 A MEMORIAL OF 

Most difficulties yield to a resolute will. He 
was a student by instinct, fond of reading and 
study, readily comprehending any subject under 
consideration, and by close application soon mas- 
tering any new branch of study attempted. His 
industry and persistent application served him 
well, as they will serve any one ; far better than 
that brilliancy of genius which learns in a moment 
and forgets in an hour. He possessed that force 
of will which amounted to self-compulsion, holding 
his mind to the investigation of a subject until he 
mastered it. 

But new obstacles arose. His father hardly 
felt able to meet the expense of a collegiate 
course for his son. Beside which, as one of his 
brothers certifies, his health had become seriously 
impaired by intense and long-continued applica- 
tion to study, in addition to preaching most of 
the time ; finally, his plan for a collegiate course 
was definitely abandoned, and he resolved to 
enter at once and fully upon the work of the min- 
istry, making such amends by private study for 
the want of a more extended systematic course 
as he could. This somewhat sudden decision 
on his part, was "greatly regretted by some of 
his friends, inasmuch as his natural aptitude for 
theological and philosophical investigations, di- 
rected and matured by the liberal and systematic 
training of a university course, would have 
placed him in the very front rank of scholarship 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 37 

in after years. But the truth is, that he felt his 
calling and profession to be that of a preacher 
of the gospel, an ambassador of Christ to men, 
and not a specialist in any department of human 
learning. That was the calling which he magni- 
fied and honored through life. He himself al- 
ways believed that his decision with reference to 
his proposed collegiate course was a wise deci- 
sion, one which he never regretted, and his 
judgment should be respected in the matter. 
It may be further said, that those who knew him 
in subsequent years need not be told, that even 
without the advantages which he resolved to 
forego, he attained an enviable degree of scholar- 
ship in both classical, theological, and philosophi- 
cal learning, in which few graduates were his 
equal. And certainly, if more specific and pro- 
tracted literary pursuits would have deadened the 
spiritual vitality of his ministrations, which was 
so marked a feature of himself and his services, 
it would have been a poor exchange for the 
cause of Christian truth and the edification of the 
churches. But this need not have been the result. 
The other noted event of this year was his 
marriage on March 27, 1837, to Miss Sarah A. 
Langworthy, daughter of John and Sarah Lang- 
worthy, also of North Stonington. Mr. Palmer 
was twenty-four at this time, and his wife two 
years younger, having been born in Hopkinton, 
R. I., an adjoining town, December 27, 181 5. 



38 A MEMORIAL OF 

Her father was a deacon in the Seventh Day 
Baptist church of that town, of which church his 
daughter was also a member. Of this marriage, 
and the brief married life which they were per- 
mitted to enjoy, it is difficult to speak in befitting 
terms without appearing to be extravagant. As 
children they grew up together, schoolmates and 
playmates almost from infancy. She was beauti- 
ful in person, lovely in spirit, gentle in disposi- 
tion, bright, attractive, and most charming in 
manners. She was as artless and lovely as the 
violets in her native glens ; as unconscious of 
self and as unaffected in her manners as the wild 
rose that bloomed on her native hills ; the cow- 
slip that grew in the modest retirement beside 
the rippling brooks, was not more simple, retiring, 
and sincere in native loveliness than was Sarah 
Langworthy, the sweetest flower of all that re- 
gion ; while a youthful piety, unpretentious but 
genuine, at once devout and cheerful, crowned 
and gave added charms to her person and her 
character. 

Long years afterward he painted her with 
poetic touch as she lived in his memory : 

The beauty of this child no art can paint, 
No speech, nor pen, her loveliness declare ; 

In early girlhood she became a saint, 

A Christian girl of chastened beauty rare ; 

Scarcely the Virgin, in her maiden days, 

Could have surpassed the beauty of her ways. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 39 

When first we met by seeming chance, 
Exchanging just a passing glance. 

And later still in life, his muse indited the same 
exalted estimate in his lines, "To the wife of 
my youth :" 

I long have sought the world around, 

With yearning, painful scrutiny, 
If aught on earth might still be found, 

That faintly would resemble thee. 
But earth's most beautiful and fair, 

Its loveliest, sweetest specimens, 
To thee as glittering jewels are, 

Compared with priceless, burning gems. 

The union was an ideal one. The brief life 
which followed realized fully the pledge of their 
plighted faith and their marriage vows. That 
brief life ! For on the seventh anniversary of 
their wedding day she was removed by sudden 
death from the husband she had loved so fondly, 
from the home she had made so bright, and 
from the two infant children left motherless, but 
too young to know the greatness of their loss. 
Mr. Palmer never seemed to fully recover from 
the crushing blow of that sad bereavement. The 
loss of that lovely wife, that saintly girl, — scarcely 
more than a girl when she was called home, — 
touched and chastened all his after life. Though 
removed, to him she was a presence ever near. 
Not the overshadowing of a somber grief, but 
the illumination and cheer of an angelic fellow- 



40 A MEMORIAL OF 

ship. No one can mistake the reference in the 
following lines, from a poem written years after- 
ward : 

Her image lives within my heart, 

In memory's sweetest light enshrined. 

Her loveliness unmocked by art, 
Is brightly mirrored on my mind. 

His marriage decided on, his future course was 
determined by more definite lines of action. He 
was now, and henceforth, to give himself without 
reserve to the active ministry of the gospel of 
Christ in all departments of its service. As a 
prophet, he was not without honor in his own 
country, and among his own kindred. In the 
neighborhood where he was born and reared, in 
the church where he was converted and baptized, 
where his first Christian testimony had been 
heard and his first sermon preached, there was 
he loved, honored, and listened to as a teacher 
of religious truth and an expounder of the Scrip- 
tures with respect and affection. So, in after 
years, when his reputation as an able minister 
of the New Testament had been established, and 
his name and fame had become more widely 
known, they were- proud of him. So they honor 
and revere his memory now that he has passed 
away. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 41 



VI. 

His Pastorate at Westerly, R. I. 

On March 3, 1837, the Baptist church at Wes- 
terly, R. I., voted a unanimous call to Rev. Albert 
G. Palmer to become their pastor. He replied in a 
letter received by the church March 27, accepting 
the call. With that month his service with the 
church on Pendleton Hill terminated, and he 
entered upon his new charge April 1, 1837. 

The church at Westerly was constituted Aug- 
ust 31, 1835 ; and September 16, 1835, lt was 
duly recognized by a council convened for that 
purpose, according to Baptist usage. At the 
same time, and by the same council, Rev. John 
Waterman was duly set apart to the work of the 
ministry by formal ordination, and recognized as 
pastor of the church. Mr. Waterman was a 
recent graduate from Brown University, a man 
of culture and fine abilities, and of admirable 
Christian spirit. But his ministry and his life 
were brief. His health soon failed, and after a 
pastorate of about eight months, he resigned 
May 23, 1836, and died not long after. The 
pulpit was variously supplied until the following 
April, when Mr. Palmer commenced his ministry 



42 A MEMORIAL OF 

among them. He was now fairly embarked on 
his life's professional voyage. Up to this time, 
and for some five years, he had been exercising 
his ministry at home, and among those with whom 
he had his birth, and had been reared. They had 
been years of training and pupilage, and of prac- 
tical experience. And the experience had been 
of great advantage to him. Now he was to set 
his sails for unknown seas, with all the possibili- 
ties and all the liabilities which are incident to 
the Christian minister's work. But he was de- 
voutly reliant on three sources of guidance and 
support, on three guarantees of inspiration and 
success. The presence of his divine Lord, the 
chief Shepherd, for whom he wrought with the 
sure promise of his unfailing help always and 
everywhere ; the inspiration and direction of the 
Holy Spirit, by whom his ministry should be 
adapted and made effectual to men ; the living 
power of the Word which he was to preach, and 
which by the Spirit should slay and make alive. 
By these alone can any herald of the great sal- 
vation hope for success, and by these can any 
and all truly called of God to such an embassage 
come off more than conqueror through him who 
giveth the victory. 

His ministry in Westerly began auspiciously. 
The church was not large, but it was united and 
active. The people were sympathetic and aggres- 
sive in Christian work. The prayer-meeting 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 43 

element in the church was largely developed. 
They believed in direct and earnest labors for the 
salvation of souls. The brief ministry of their 
first and only pastor had been peaceful and har- 
monious in its influence. No roots of bitterness, 
or elements of strife and dissension, had been 
developed among them. The population was 
not large, but growing, and alive with energy 
and enterprise. The entire community was pre- 
disposed to Baptist sentiments. Churches in the 
near vicinity, both Seventh Day and First Day 
Baptists, had long existed, and the population 
generally was inclined to their views. An Epis- 
copal church had previously been organized, but 
like other denominational interests subsequently 
formed, it was composed largely of material 
reared under Baptist influences. No one will 
wonder at this who recalls -the fact of Rhode 
Island's Baptistic origin, and the further fact that 
Southwestern Rhode Island — Westerly and its 
adjoining towns — was from its earliest settlement 
one of the most Baptistic portions of the State. 
In like manner Southeastern 'Connecticut, adjoin- 
ing, was the most intensely Baptistic portion of 
that State, as certified to by the rapid increase of 
Baptists there, in spite of bitter opposition, and 
the persecutions they early endured for con- 
science sake from their fellow Christians of the 
"standing order." 

A period of great spiritual prosperity to the 



44 A MEMORIAL OF 

church followed almost immediately on the com- 
mencement of Mr. Palmer's ministry, and the 
church was greatly enlarged and strengthened. 
Extra meetings were held and large numbers 
were converted. The records show that August 
12, 1837, thirteen persons were received for bap- 
tism. August 19, twenty-four more were re- 
ceived. August 27, two more were received. 
Thirty-nine during that month, and just two 
years after the organization of the body. The 
infancy of that church, which we now call the 
"old church,' 5 was cradled in revivals, and imbued 
with a revival spirit from its birth, which it has 
never wholly lost. The Spirit was thus early 
setting his seal to the ministry of the young 
pastor, and perhaps giving him the assurance 
that he had followed the divine leadings when 
he had denied himself a college course for an 
immediate entrance on the duties of his calling. 
The church records were kept by different 
clerks during the following years, and afford a 
very disjointed and imperfect history of events, 
But they were years of enlargement and upbuild- 
ing, not only as to numbers, but as to the devel- 
opment of Christian character and of religious 
activity on the part of the members. Other sea- 
sons of special refreshing occurred, of which the 
records make no mention. During the winter 
of 1842-3, there was an almost continuous re- 
vival. Some twenty were baptized in December, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 45 

and more than forty in January. In the midst of 
this prosperity, and greatly to the surprise of the 
church and the community, the pastor offered his 
resignation. There was no difficulty ; everything 
was harmonious between pastor and people ; the 
church had never before been in so prosperous a 
condition. He was greatly beloved by the peo- 
ple, which affectionate regard he fully recipro- 
cated ; a feeling which on both sides was ten- 
derly cherished through his life. 

The church was anxious to know the reasons 
for this unlooked-for step on his part. The 
records afford a very scanty and unsatisfactory 
explanation of the matter. They state that he 
presented " certain conditions," on compliance 
with which he would remain. These conditions 
are not defined, but it is well known that the 
principal one, possibly the only one, was the 
inconvenience to which they were subjected for 
want of a house of worship. From its organiza- 
tion, the church had usually occupied a " union 
meeting house," built by the citizens generally, 
the use of which no church or preacher could 
exclusively control. Any one could claim its 
occupancy at almost any time, and though the 
Baptists were not often disturbed in its use, yet 
sometimes they were compelled to seek refuge 
in an inconvenient hall, or give up their services 
altogether. Nor could they ever be assured, 
long in advance, when these inconveniences 



46 A MEMORIAL OF 

might occur. Though ordinary courtesies were 
commonly observed, yet any reputable preacher 
had the right to appoint a service at any time 
without consulting the Baptists. Both pastor 
and people knew equally well, that not only the 
comfort but the prosperity of the church de- 
pended largely on their having a house of their 
own in which to worship. More than one effort 
had already been made to secure this most desir- 
able object, but all had thus far ended in failure. 
The church believed they had not, and probably 
had not, the means for building without incurring 
a too burdensome debt. The union house was 
not only not under the control of the church, but 
was extremely inconvenient for many purposes 
of church work and service, having an audience 
room only, to be used for all purposes. * 

After long and careful consideration, the 
church responded that they were not able to 
comply with the conditions proposed by the 

* The old union house stood on the highest spot of land, and in the 
most central and the best location in the village. The site is now occu- 
pied by the New Town Hall, directly in the rear of the Dixon House 
and the present Baptist church edifice. The building consisted of a 
square audience room, with galleries on three sides. It was entered from 
the south by two doors, opening into a vestibule. The pulpit was between 
the doors, entered from the floor by a short flight of steps. On either side 
of the pulpit, and not far removed from it, was a very large stove for heat- 
ing purposes in cold weather. Any one can conceive the discomforts of a 
preacher subjected to currents of cold air, as belated worshipers entered, 
supplemented by the heat from the stoves, and obliged to preach through 
a stratum of heated air diffused between himself and his audience. But 
many other houses of worship had been constructed on the same plan. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 47 

pastor. It appears that about the time this 
resignation was offered, probably a little pre- 
vious, the church at Stonington Borough gave 
Mr. Palmer a call to become their pastor. The 
records of that church show that on January 27, 
1843, that church by vote instructed its pulpit 
committee to "give Rev. A. G. Palmer a call to 
come and act as pastor of this people." On Feb- 
ruary 14, 1843, Mr. Palmer announced to the 
church that he had accepted a call from the Ston- 
ington Church, and made his resignation final, to 
take effect with the close of March following, thus 
terminating a pastorate of six years, which had 
been both prosperous and pleasant to all con- 
cerned. It need not be added that the entire 
community deeply regretted the retirement of 
Mr. Palmer from among them. 

On February 7, 1843, one week before the 
final announcement of his resignation, transpired 
an event to which Mr. Palmer always henceforth 
looked back with interest, and often spoke of 
with peculiar satisfaction. That was the organi- 
zation of a branch church which had grown up 
as the fruits of his ministry, some distance from 
the village. About three miles down the Pau- 
catuc River, on which Westerly is located, 
and two miles before reaching its outlet to the 
ocean between Stonington and Watch Hill, 
there was a hamlet of perhaps a dozen families 
of sea-faring men. It was known as the 



48 A MEMORIAL OF 

"Lottery," and later " Lotteryville," on account 
of some connection at its inception with a lot- 
tery venture, a common factor in former times in 
matters both secular and religious. Here meet 
ings were held from time to time, and a goodly 
number were converted and united with the 
church at Westerly. But the distance was too 
great for the families to attend church with any 
degree of regularity, especially could not the 
women and children. It was therefore proposed 
to organize this company of believers into a 
"branch church," a common thing among New 
England Baptists of that and former times ; and 
it must be conceded a wise and prudent provision 
in given circumstances. The " branch " had the 
privilege of holding meetings, receiving mem- 
bers, all of whom would by that act be members 
of the mother church. They were allowed to 
have the ordinances administered by the pastor, 
if he could be had, or by others, with the consent 
of the church. The pastor would also preach 
for them at stated or convenient times, and the 
brethren visit and encourage them as opportunity 
offered. These branch churches sustained a 
semi-dependent relation to the mother church, 
until such times as they might be able to care 
for themselves and support a pastor of their 
own, then they were " set off" and recognized as 
independent churches. The records note the fact 
that the pastor preached an excellent sermon at 






ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 49 

the organization of this branch church from 
i Cor. 13 : 11-13. I have more than once heard 
Dr. Palmer in later years refer to the event as 
one, the recollection of which gave him great satis- 
faction. And as the day proved to be very snowy, 
he spoke of the transaction as a very heroic one, 
pleasantly alluding to the brave Benaiah, one of 
David's mighty men and captain of his guard, 
who not only slew two lion-like men, but "also 
he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy 
day." * 

It is not my intention to introduce into this 
memorial personal reminiscences, save as they 
may illuminate some event of his life, or illustrate 
some trait of his character. But there is one in- 
cident connected with his ministry in Westerly 
which is vividly recalled as I write. It so hap- 
pened, how I do not now remember, that I spent 
a Sunday there, probably in the summer or 
autumn of 1842, while on a visit to friends dur- 
ing a vacation.-)- That Sunday was communion 



* I Chron. II : 22. It should, perhaps, be said that this branch church 
survived for many years, and was a needed and welcome means of grace 
to the scattered population through all that vicinity. But changes trans- 
pired in the conditions of social and business life. The water-carrying 
trade underwent changes, members died or removed, and subsequently the 
organization was given up. 

f It will be of small interest to the reader to be told that Westerly was 
my native town, and the home of my childhood, having left it at thirteen 
years of age ; and except an occasional visit and a general acquaintance, 
knowing comparatively little about it till I became pastor of that church, 
May i, 1844, a year after Dr. Palmer closed his pastorate with it. Dur- 
5 



50 A MEMORIAL OF 

day. The church had been blessed with a sea- 
son of revival. The pastor had been ill ; and, if 
my memory be correct, for some weeks away 
from home. On this occasion, he preached with 
unction and great tenderness of feeling. At the 
communion service, after sermon, a large num- 
ber of converts were to receive the hand of fel- 
lowship. They were ranged in front of the pul- 
pit in one extended line, reaching beyond the old 
stoves on either side (for the stoves were still 
standing), from near one door to near the other, 
probably twenty in number as now remembered. 
The pastor took his place in front of the pulpit, 
pale and trembling with emotion. He attempted 
to speak, but could not ; the tears ran down his 
face ; he took his handkerchief from his pocket, 
pressed it to his eyes, and stood for some mo- 
ments speechless, struggling with the intensity 
of his feelings, overcome by a sense of the good- 
ness of God in having given him such evidence 
that his work and labor of love was not in vain 
in the Lord. The impression on a large audience 
was indescribable : more touching and more im- 

ing that year, the church had been variously supplied ; a considerable part 
of the time by Rev. Mr. Wakefield, an excellent man, a good preacher, 
and a faithful pastor. That was my first pastorate, and no succeeding one 
is more pleasantly or more fondly cherished at this distance of nearly half 
a century. Westerly then was an unimportant country village, but now 
its granite quarries have made it famous through the world for the finest 
gray granite for monuments, statuary, and building purposes anywhere to 
be found. Besides, its manufactories and general enterprises have greatly 
enlarged its bounds. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, 1). I). 51 

pressive than any words could possibly have been. 
The scene is before me now as fresh and vivid as at 
that moment. On me the effect was inexpressible. 
Never before or since have I been more touched 
with a sense of the blessedness of the ministerial 
calling, and the reward of a pastor's work as he 
sees his labors bearing fruit in the salvation of 
souls, converts won from the world and sin, joy- 
ful in him who loved them and gave himself for 
them. 

It is safe to say that Dr. Palmer looked back 
from after years to his pastorate in Westerly as 
perhaps the most fruitful in spiritual blessings of 
any part of his long and useful life. That in 
Wakefield, R. I., though much more brief, ranked 
hardly second in his estimate of its worth in pre- 
cious fruits. Both he cherished in affectionate 
memory through all his subsequent years ; and 
they reciprocated fully his cherished recollections. 



52 A MEMORIAL OF 



VII. 

His Stonington Pastorate. 

The old town of Stonington constitutes the 
southeastern extremity of the State of Connec- 
ticut, lying along the western border of Rhode 
Island, between which the Paucatuc River flows 
as the dividing line. On a projecting point of 
land jutting out into the waters of Long Island 
Sound, lies the village of Stonington, known as 
Stonington Borough, formerly and more familiarly 
called Stonington Point, the most considerable 
village in New London County, east of the 
Thames. Stonington was settled about the 
middle of the seventeenth century, is a port of 
entry, and has a fine harbor. A century ago it 
was an important port for whalers and the coast- 
wise trade, and many of the leading families were 
wealthy for those times. But great changes 
have transpired. At present it is the southern 
terminus of the Providence and Stonington Rail- 
road, and the port for the New York, Stonington, 
and Boston line of steamers. It is five miles 
southwest from Westerly, and the same distance 
west, across the bay at the mouth of the Pauca- 
tuc, from the now famous summer seashore re- 




Old Baptist Cuukcii, Stoxington, Ct. 

Erected in 1834-5. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 53 

sort of Watch Hill, standing high above the surf, 
with its many hotels and cottages looking out 
upon the broad Atlantic Ocean. It is twelve miles 
east from New London. The whole scene is one 
of marvelous marine beauty and attraction, es- 
pecially in the summer time, when thousands of 
visitors throng all the region, as a health resort, 
for rest and pure air. Then the river and bay 
are whitened with the sails of pleasure craft, and 
the waters are stirred with the wheels of steamers 
constantly moving to and fro. Fifteen miles off 
shore lies Block Island, now also famous as a 
summer resort, reached daily by excursion 
steamers and sailing crafts. The coast is a bleak 
one for winter storms, but in the summer few 
equal, and none surpass Watch Hill, Stonington, 
and Westerly, and the surrounding vicinity, for 
vacation rest and pleasure seeking. It seems 
proper to make this brief mention of the vicinity 
in which so large a part of the life of the subject 
of this memoir was spent, and all of which was 
so dear to him. 

The records of the Stonington Church, which 
are not continuous in many cases, under date of 
January 27, 1843, have this entry, "Voted that 
the trustees be a committee to obtain a pastor." 
And on the same evening, " Voted that the com- 
mittee eive Rev. A. G. Palmer a call to come and 
act as our pastor." There is no record of his 
acceptance of the call, or of any communication 



54 A MEMORIAL OF 

from him. But he did accept the call, and an 
entry some months later says : " Rev. A. G. Pal- 
mer commenced his labors amongst us April i, 
1843." The church had noted the success of 
his ministry in Westerly, and contemplated his 
coming to them -with great expectations. Nor 
were they disappointed. The two communities, 
though near neighbors, were very unlike. This 
was an old church, fixed in its habits, and not 
easily moved ; that was young, alive, and readily 
responsive to any appeal. This was composed 
of and surrounded by the staid, conservative 
society of an old seaport ; that by the wide- 
awake, active life of a mechanical and manufac- 
turing village, ready to move in any direction 
which commended itself to their judgment and 
better feelings. Moreover, the church had ex- 
perienced various internal hindrances to its pros- 
perity. A very serious case of discipline, which 
for some years was a source of uneasiness and 
of some diversity of opinion, diverted and damp- 
ened the spiritual energies of the body. 

They had good and wise brethren, but they felt 
the need of a good and wise pastor at the helm to 
unite their efforts and guide their forces. For six 
years they had known him and his work at West- 
erly, and they believed he was the man they 
needed in their present condition. Nor were 
they mistaken in their choice. Through all the 
difficulties of that particular case, which led to 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 55 

protracted labor, with no small differences of 
opinion, the calling of a council, and consequent 
church action — through it all the pastor bore him- 
self with firmness as to principles, but with great 
kindness as to spirit, and with wisdom and dis- 
cretion as to the direction of affairs. And his 
brethren sustained him. The church emerged 
from the conflict still united and harmonious, and 
perhaps in a better spiritual condition than for a 
long time previous. 

During the autumn and winter of 1843, his first 
year in Stonington, there occurred a gracious re- 
vival, with which, by a marked providential inci- 
dent, I chanced to be connected. I was on my 
way to New York from Rhode Island, where I 
had been to visit relatives, and came into Ston- 
ington by an early evening train, expecting to 
take the steamer at a later hour. My trunk was 
put on board, and having secured a berth, I started 
to make a call on Mr. Palmer, having some two 
hours before the boat left. I found him at home, 
surprised by the unexpected visit, — the occasion 
of which was explained, — but apparently very glad 
to see me. He said they were holding meetings 
every night in the lecture room, and there was a 
good deal of interest among the people. "And 
now," he added, "you must remain and preach 
for us to-night.'' I replied that it was out of the 
question. My trunk was on the boat, and I must 
go on, No argument would suffice ; and so 



56 A MEMORIAL OF 

earnest and persistent was he, that I consented 
to remain for that one evening and go on the 
next. My trunk was taken from the steamer to 
his house, and I conducted the services for him 
that evening. Such was the interest, that his 
persuasions were repeated the next day for an- 
other evening, and the result was that for three 
'weeks I remained in his family, preaching for him 
every evening and once each Sunday. They 
were weeks of deep spiritual interest to the 
church, of most profitable experience to myself, 
and delightful Christian intercourse with himself 
and his lovely wife. In later years he has often 
referred to that season of fraternal fellowship and 
ministerial service as a cherished memory pecu- 
liarly pleasant. How many professed conversions 
and additions to the church there were as the 
fruit of those meetings, I cannot now tell, and 
the church records are strangely silent as to the 
whole affair, as in other similar cases, having no 
mention of the meetings. 

It was in this same autumn, and a few weeks 
earlier than my visit above mentioned, that the 
old First Baptist Church in North Stonington, 
where he was born, converted, baptized, and be- 
gan his ministry, celebrated its " one hundredth 
anniversary," with appropriate services, With 
fitting propriety he was invited to deliver the 
centennial sermon. The invitation was accepted, 
and he preached a historical discourse from the 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 57 

text Deut. 31 : 12, 13. So fitting was the dis- 
course, and so favorably did it impress the peo- 
ple, that a demand was made for its publication. 
To this demand he yielded, and during my stay 
in his family he prepared the manuscript for pub- 
lication, and sent it to the church committee. 
The subject was the early struggles, trials, and 
triumphs of the Baptists of Eastern Connecticut. 
It is a monograph of permanent historical value.* 

* The discourse may be found reprinted in this volume. 



58 A MEMORIAL OF 



VIII. 

His Great Bereavement. 

We come now to consider his first great do- 
mestic sorrow, and it is doubtless true to say, the 
greatest by far of his life, — the death of his lovely 
and devoted wife. This occurred on March 27, 
1844, at the age of twenty-nine, on the seventh 
anniversary of her wedding day. He loved her 
passionately ; almost idolized her. And she was 
fully worthy of his high esteem and generous af- 
fection. The blow was all the more crushing be- 
cause it was so sudden. Goinor ou t in the after- 
noon to make pastoral calls, leaving her in appar- 
ently perfect health, he returned at evening to 
find her prostrate with illness, and near to death. 
She survived but a few hours, leaving the home, 
which so lately had been without a shadow on its 
joy, shrouded in the gloom of unutterable grief.* 
Two bright and beautiful little boys who called 
her mother, and were too young to realize their 
loss, were left. One babe had preceded her to 
the home above. 

To the husband, the shock was literally over- 

* The physicians, I believe, never did agree as to the immediate cause 
of her illness and sudden death, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D.D. 59 

whelming. The stroke chastened and shaded all 
his subsequent years. True, others have suffered 
sore bereavement ; other homes have been dark- 
ened, and other hearts have been smitten and af- 
flicted. But this, as I personally knew the par- 
ticulars, was altogether a peculiar case. 

His heart never fully lost the shadow of that 
dark hour, nor ceased to taste the bitterness of 
that bitter cup. Still there was no settled gloom, 
but the cheering sense of a joyous fellowship 
which death could not dissolve. No one can 
mistake the reference in the following extract 
from one of his poems, entitled " Smitten " : 

I sit and gaze into the darkness blankly, 
For light no sweetness has apart from thee. 

And in my locks the night air gathers dankly, 
While thus I blindly long thy face to see. 

Oh, it were sweet to die if I might find thee, 
And kiss as erst thy dear lips o'er and o'er, 

And to my heart in long embraces bind thee 
Indissolubly mine forevermore. 

And thou wilt be among the first to meet me 

When my worn feet shall press the golden shore ; 

On flashing pinions thou wilt haste to greet me, 
And kiss me thine, to part no more. 

Thank heaven the darkness will not be forever, 
E'en now I seem to see the golden dawn, 

Whose bright unfoldings death shall shadow never, 
While the eternal ages circle on. 

And here ao-ain, I must make a personal refer- 



60 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

ence. At the time of her death I was seven 
miles north, temporarily supplying the Second 
Church in North Stonington, whose pastor had 
lately and quite unexpectedly resigned and left. 
One day I was utterly amazed by the receipt of 
a letter from Mr. Palmer, announcing the death 
of his wife, and asking me to come and preach 
her funeral sermon the next day. No words can 
express my astonishment, at both the announce- 
ment and the request. It seemed but a few days 
only since I had been in their family, with no 
thought of death or illness, though it was really 
three months gone by. And now she was dead, 
and I was asked to speak at her funeral. It 
would be like conducting the funeral of a sister. 
Not yet ordained, I do not recall that I had ever 
conducted a funeral service. How much more 
fitting for some older and more experienced man 
to be chosen ! But we were friends, had lately 
wrought together in gospel service, and he knew 
that I appreciated her worth. It seemed impos- 
sible to comply, and impracticable to refuse, since 
I could not reach him with a response till too late 
to secure some one else. There was no tele- 
graph ; mails were infrequent ; the weather was 
unfavorable, and the roads were bad. I was 
compelled to consent. I did yield to the fraternal 
call, coming as it did, out of great darkness and 
anguish of heart. I preached the sermon from 
John ii : 26: "And whosoever liveth and believeth 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 61 

in me shall never die." It was a service under- 
taken with more trepidation than any other I can 
recall in my whole life, and performed with a more 
manifest sense of divine assistance than almost 
any other before or since. And the assurances 
of mourners and sympathizing- friends afterward 
gave evidence that the Spirit directed the service. 
For almost half a century the dust of that 
saintly young woman reposed in the old village 
burying ground where it was laid that day. But 
recently it has been removed to the cemetery, 
and now reposes side by side with the husband 
she so fondly loved and so early left, in a beau- 
tiful granite tomb, erected by filial affection for 
them by her first-born son and child. And there 
in peaceful silence it will remain waiting the 
angel's voice and the resurrection morning, when 
the trump shall awake the sleeping dead.* 

* The message from Mr. Palmer reached me in the afternoon. While 
I felt that I could not preach a sermon on such an occasion, yet it was 
apparently impracticable to decline without perhaps subjecting him to 
disappointment, and possibly grieve him in the hour of his great sorrow. 
Nor could I communicate with him except by special messenger. T 
finally resolved to undertake the service, do the best I could, and leave 
the result. After supper that evening, at my boarding place, I took my 
lamp, pen, ink, and paper, and the Bible, — other books I had none, — 
and went to my room. It was 7 o'clock when I sat down, with my mind 
utterly empty and desolate with the morrow's task before me. For two 
hours I prayed and thought and turned the Scriptures, attempting to fix 
on something. At length a text was chosen, the line of thought gradually 
opened to view. And there I remained ; thought, prayed, and wrote till 
my discourse was finished at 5 o'clock the next morning. And such a 
night ! What a war of elements ! It rained, hailed, snowed, thundered, 
and lightened through the passing hours. But the hours were not so 
6 



62 A MEMORIAL OP 

Notwithstanding her great timidity of nature, 
and her shrinking diffidence, Mrs. Palmer was a 
most efficient helper in the church. Not so 
much because she was foremost everywhere and 
leading in everything, but because everybody 
loved her, and was ready to help do anything she 
desired to have done. But she did on occasion 
possess courage for any emergency. The fol- 
lowing incident characteristic at once of her 
diffidence and of her courage is still related by 
the few living witnesses of it, and repeated by 
the many who heard it from others. During a 
time of special religious interest, when nightly 
meetings were being held, the feeling had 
reached a point of great intensity, but there was 
no break, no giving way. Like waters that had 
risen to the margin of the pool and there stayed, 
they did not overflow. All felt the pressure, 
but no one knew what to do. One evening in 
this condition, she sat with her head bowed down, 
when suddenly she arose from her seat, stepped 
out into the aisle, kneeled down and poured out 
her soul in prayer with such pathos, manifest 
faith, and strong conviction, that all felt it to be 

dreary to me, nor lagging,-for I was busy, and did not wish them hastened. 
After breakfast I hired a horse and gig and drove to Stonington through 
mud and ice, and preached that sermon, the manuscript of which I still 
retain in its original form. After the interment, I went to the house to 
speak a Word of hope and cheer to my afflicted brother, and then returned 
to my temporary home to rest and meditate on the dealing of God with his 
children. Whom he loves, them he chastens, as a wise but not unkind 
father. That was almost fifty years ago. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 63 

the inspiration of the Spirit. Her natural timid- 
ity had disappeared, for she seldom had courage 
to pray in public. Now she wrestled with the 
mighty arm and won a gracious victory. It was 
like an electric shock. The congregation was in 
tears. The barrier was broken down and the 
waters overflowed. Strong men, men promi- 
nent in the community, arose and asked for 
prayers. Men came down from the gallery and 
from the rear of the house, confessing their sins 
and their need of a Saviour. A glorious work 
of grace succeeded, and many of the saved were 
added to the church. 

His memory of her personal charms still found 
expression in verse after years had passed, when 
he sang in sad undertone to " The Wife of His 
Youth." 

I've stood in halls' where softened light 

Threw down from canvas beauty's glance, 
All radiant, sparkling, bright, 

But powerless yet my eye to entrance. 
I have not found the faintest shade 

Of thy unrivalled loveliness, 
Nought of what thee an angel made, 

Thy matchless, sweet, subduing grace. 

But his muse was not unjust to forget the 
works of faith and labors of love of the wife of 
his maturer years, but in tender equity said : 

But one there is who fills thy place, 
So like thee in her spirit kind, 



$4 A MEMORIAL OF 

That what is less in outward grace, 
Is more in fellowship of mind. 

I love her, not as I loved thee, 
Though not less tenderly or true ; 

But differing only as we see 

The morning from the evening dew. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 65 



IX. 

Lights and Shadows of Pastoral Life. 

During the winter of 1849, came up the ques- 
tion of the permanency of the pastoral relation. 
The custom of the church had been to call the 
pastor yearly. This was common with churches 
then, and some still retain the habit of "hiring 
the pastor yearly." Though they did not prob- 
ably take that view of it, yet it virtually made 
the pastorate a hireling service, tending to de- 
grade both the office and the incumbent. More- 
over, it gave yearly occasion, as the matter came 
up, for any disaffected cranks to agitate the 
question of a change of pastors. The records 
do not show that such agitation in this case did 
occur. But the very possibility of such a result 
would be painful to a sensitive nature, and any 
pastor would wish to be relieved from such a 
liability. Mr. Palmer saw the objections and 
proposed a change ; a change equally just to 
pastor and people ; that should secure all the ad- 
vantages and avoid the difficulties. He drew up 
"a plan of settlement," and presented it to the 
church for consideration. The plan was not 
spread upon the minutes, and cannot here be 



A MEMORIAL OF 



specially explained. The meeting is stated to 
have been a small one, and his plan was not 
accepted. Then he offered his resignation. 

As a rule it is not a wise thing for a pastor to 
offer his resignation unless he means to persist 
in it. To attempt to coerce a church, or en- 
deavor to bring them to terms by resigning, as it 
will probably be interpreted, does not usually 
succeed. Very likely the resignation may be 
accepted when not expected or desired. But we 
do not know all the circumstances in this case, 
and doubtless Mr. Palmer was fully justified in 
his action. He was not rash, impetuous, and in- 
considerate; but careful, conscientious, and hon- 
orable in all his proceedings. The church as a 
body evidently justified his course. His resig- 
nation aroused them to the importance of the 
subject, and at a subsequent and much larger 
meeting, the church voted not to accept his resig- 
nation, and presented *'a plan of settlement" 
entirely satisfactory to him. As to salary, with 
his usual generosity he left that entirely with the 
church to determine. The discussion of the 
subject, so far as the minutes give any light, 
shows his clear comprehension of the true rela- 
tions sustained between pastor and people, the 
rights of each, and the obligations of both. 

The church had never held a numerous mem- 
bership, but it was very compact and, according 
to its method of work, effective. But churches 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 67 

in staid and conservative communities are usually 
not very aggressive. In their church life they 
partook of the general tone and spirit of society 
about them. Various clerks kept, or neglected to 
keep, the records, and no consistent or continu- 
ous history of its progress can be gathered from 
them. For many years there appear but two 
entries giving statistical facts. The letter to the 
Association for 1850, reports 299 members, with 
126 scholars in the Sunday-school. The next 
year, 185 1, there were 302 members, with 166 
pupils in the Sunday-school. These meagre facts 
leave us in ignorance of many things we should 
like to know. It is much to be regretted that 
church clerks do not note in their records every 
important fact which transpires in their history, 
so that those who come after them can gain an 
accurate and consistent idea of their life and 
progress from year to year. It is known, how- 
ever, though the particulars are not at hand, that 
during these years various revivals were enjoyed, 
the church was edified and established in the 
faith, discipline was maintained, and their influ- 
ence in the community was widened and deepened. 
April 12, 1852, Mr. Palmer offered his resigna- 
tion, to accept a call he had received from the 
First Baptist Church in Syracuse, New York. 
The church accepted the resignation with regrets, 
and with the letters granted to himself and wife, 
they sent an official letter to the Syracuse Church, 



68 A MEMORIAL OF 

commending- him in the most affectionate and 
positive terms. We are not informed as to the 
precise time at which his pastorate closed and 
that in Syracuse began. It was, however, some- 
time during the spring or early summer of 1852, 
and terminated a pastorate of nine years in 
Stonington. As a token of the affectionate re- 
gard in which he was held, on the evening in 
which he left for his new home, a committee from 
the church met him at the boat, and presented 
him with a valuable gold watch, expressing for 
him their affectionate regard, and their sor- 
row at his leaving. That watch he carried till 
his death, and left as an heirloom to his daugh- 
ter. And a still more emphatic expression of 
their interest in him and their desire for his 
services, was the fact that at the end of one year 
they sent him an urgent and unanimous call to 
return to Stonington. This call, however, he 
felt compelled at the time to decline, as he did 
not feel that his mission at Syracuse was fully 
accomplished. 

During the year 1846, Mr. Palmer was married 
to Miss Amelia Wells, daughter of Henry and 
Lucy P. Wells, of- Woodstock, Connecticut. His 
home, and his own sense of loneliness, demanded 
the care and sympathy of a wife, and the two 
little children needed the care and love of a 
mother. In all of this, his choice was a pecu- 
liarly fortunate one. No one could better have 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 69 

cared for himself and his home. A competent 
and faithful manager of his household; a wise 
and prudent counsellor; a patient, affectionate, 
and discreet mother, not only to her own chil- 
dren, but to those committed to her trust from 
the sainted dead ; a wise and safe adviser and an 
efficient helper in church affairs ; she well de- 
served the confidence he reposed in her, and the 
commendations she received from the churches 
they served together for forty-five years. She 
still survives, though in frail health, to mourn his 
loss, but to be tenderly cared for by the children 
she has reared and blessed. It was largely on 
account of the precarious state of her health 
that they left Stonington, her physician declaring 
that nothing but an entire change of air would 
save her life. 



70 A MEMORIAL OF 



X 

His P-astorate at Syracuse. 

His pastorate at Syracuse began hopefully, 
if not altogether auspiciously, and continued 
between two and three years. It w r as as fruitful 
of good as could have been anticipated with the 
condition of affairs as they existed in the church. 
They had for a considerable length of time been 
suffering from divisions and unrest, which marred 
their peace, and fatally hindered their prosperity. 
A former pastor, still a resident and an active 
member, had lost the confidence of a large part 
of the congregation and community, though still 
retaining as adherents a considerable party in the 
church. This was a legacy from the past which 
the new pastor accepted when entering upon his 
work there. The difficulty he managed with 
great prudence and good judgment, but the evil 
became more inveterate as the time passed. A 
similar trial confronted him upon entering upon 
his work at Stonington. In that case, however, 
after protracted labor, vexation, and care, a 
successful and harmonious termination was 
reached, to the satisfaction of all concerned. 
This case was more inveterate. In his ministry 




First Baptist Church, Syracuse, N. Y, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. P. 71 

they had hoped for an antidote, but the dis- 
ease had too firm a hold. Though emphati- 
cally a peacemaker, yet he was not able to still 
the turbulent waters, and harmony was not so 
far restored as to give his ministry free course. 
He was not personally involved in the conflicts, 
but seeking to deal justly, to love mercy, and to 
vindicate the right. A partisan spirit would 
naturally complain, if it could be surmised that 
the pastor favored one side more than the 
other. 

On a sensitive nature like his, these things 
chafed and disturbed, if they did not destroy his 
peace of mind and his expectation of usefulness. 
The spiritual element in the church stood faith- 
fully by him, but they worked against great odds, 
and made but little headway. It would be 
neither wise nor useful, at this distance of time, 
to go into details concerning a case so painful in 
many of its aspects. Most of the actors have 
passed beyond the bounds of time, and but few 
live to recall the events of forty years ago. For 
years that church had suffered, as many other 
churches have suffered from similar causes, was 
dwarfed if not paralyzed, by those unhappy con- 
flicts. But in more recent times these elements 
of evil have been eliminated, and the church once 
more united has taken on new strength and 
spiritual life. 

As to the details of his ministry there, little 



72 A MEMORIAL OF 

information can now be obtained. Most of the 
then active members have died. The church 
edifice subsequently burned down, and the church 
records, from which facts might have been ob- 
tained, perished with the building. One of his 
sons, then quite young, but who remembers the 
main circumstances, says " that pastorate was to 
my father full of trials." The following state- 
ment, received from one of the surviving mem- 
bers, is all I have been able to obtain as to that 
chapter in his life. 

" The book of church records during Brother 
Palmer's pastorate is supposed to have been 
burned with the building not long after ; and 
most of the members then interested have 
passed away. But enough remain to give a fair 
statement of the matter. In one sense, the 
period of his work here was personally an unfor- 
tunate one. The church weighed down with a 
heavy debt and anxiety consequent upon the 
erection of the new building, was hardly in a con- 
dition for aggressive spiritual growth. But testi- 
mony prevails to the pastor's fidelity, with rare 
kindness of heart, and sympathy with the lowly ; 
and also with a daily walk, carrying to others a 
conviction of the truths he preached, with clear- 
ness and power. And on the whole his pulpit 
efforts seemed the crowning gift. A letter of 
his, read on the occasion of the church's jubi- 
lee, February 17, 1870, attests his gratification 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 73 

at having been able to preach Christ and him 
crucified to this people, and attests to their faith- 
fulness.* 

No data seem obtainable by which further to 
judge of his work, and the church's progress 
during that pastorate. He never seemed to refer 
to it as one of the bright periods of his ministry. 
We are not however to infer that either in this, or 
any other similar case, a ministry is not useful or 
fruitful, because we cannot see the harvest ripen. 
The gospel faithfully proclaimed is never without 
some gracious effect. The word cannot return 
void. We do not always know the divine pur- 
pose it is meant to accomplish. He whose mes- 
sage it is, will make it effectual to the end he 
intends it shall accomplish. He does not hold 
his servants responsible for the harvest, but only 
for the faithful seed-sowing. He alone can give 
the increase. Let the servant be true and faith- 
ful to do his work as directed, and the Spirit will 
do his work, when and how he please. 

Tried in spirit and discouraged with the pros- 
pect and the lack of promise, he resigned in the 
spring or early summer of 1855, an d spent the 

* Deacon N. Gilbert, from whom the above letter was received, and 
who also kindly furnished the cut of the old church edifice, says he may 
be excused for feeling a deep interest in any and every thing pertaining to 
the church, since his father, Rev. J. N. Gilbert, was its first settled pastor, 
serving it in the ministry of the word nearly ten years, from May, 1823, to 
July, 1832, when he fell a victim to the cholera, during its first visit to this 
country. A brother, Mr. M. Gilbert, served the church many years as clerk. 



74 A MEMORIAL OF 

summer mostly at Woodstock, Conn., preaching 
as Providence opened the door. These to him were 
dark days, causing great trial of spirit. But the 
Lord was working with him, both to will and to 
do of his good pleasure. 




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ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 75 



XL 

His Pastorate in Bridgeport. 

It was on September 9, 1855, tnat tne First 
Baptist Church in Bridgeport, Conn., after long 
and ineffectual efforts to secure a pastor, voted a 
call to Rev. A. G. Palmer. The call was accepted, 
and he entered on his work in the new field of 
labor the following month. 

This new field took Mr. Palmer back to his 
native State, but to a very different condition of 
social and religious life from that to which he had 
formerly been accustomed. The church was not 
the most inviting, save as an opportunity for 
doing good. It had been without a pastor for 
more than a year, and from an examination of 
their records, the difficulties in the way of har- 
mony in securing one for a long time appeared 
almost insurmountable. The Rev. William Reid 
had been their pastor for nine years.* He was 
a man of very positive character, of marked abil- 
ity as a manager of affairs, and a strong preacher. 

* Mr. Reid has passed away within the past two months over eighty- 
years of age, dying at his house in Brooklyn, where he had resided for 
several years, and since his retirement from the pastorate. His bodily 
health and mental faculties had remained good until his last and some- 
what brief illness. 



76 A MEMORIAL OF 

By some means, not now recalled, the church had 
fallen into a state neither pleasant nor hopeful. 

And yet the new pastor entered upon his work 
at least trustfully, although he knew that the 
condition of the church was most discouraging. 
Strong party feeling prevailed, and a want of 
harmony and united Christian action made the 
outlook anything but cheering. But relying on 
the gospel of Christ which is the power of God, 
and with dependence on the Holy Spirit, he en- 
tered upon his accepted service, hoping for suc- 
cess. But, like many other faithful and good men, 
he found the past had bequeathed to him a herit- 
age of discontent and vexation which threatened to 
make fruitless his best endeavors. It was sowing 
among thorns. And not many months passed 
before he began to think that if the Lord had 
indeed sent him there, it was for a brief service 
only, and that, he would open another door for 
him before a long time had passed. 

It was in the latter part of August, or early in 
September, 1857, that the First Baptist Church 
in South Kingston (Wakefield), R. L, extended 
to him a call to become their pastor. Believing 
this to be a call of Providence, and an answer to 
his anxious doubts as to his present work, he 
presented his resignation of the pastorate, at a 
special meeting held September 27, 1857. This 
was accepted, and he began his work in Wake- 
field with the beginning of the following month. 




First Baptist Church, Wakefield, R. I. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D.D. 77 



XII. 

His Pastorate at Wakefield. 

Wakefield is one of the many manufac- 
turing villages in the southwestern part of 
Rhode Island. It lies not on, but near the 
Atlantic coast, and the well-famed Narragansett 
Bay. Peace Dale and Rocky Brook are other vil- 
lages in the near vicinity, and the now fashion- 
able summer resort of Narragansett Pier, on 
the shore open to the ocean, is but a couple of 
miles away. The whole region, formerly known 
as the " Narragansett Country," is romantic arid 
historic as well. The folk-lore of all that region 

<z> 

is rich in legends of Colonial and Revolutionary 
times, with traditions, myths, and weird tales of 
Indian life, and the presence of the British sol- 
diery. A couple of miles away to the north- 
east is the once famous Tower Hill, from whose 
lofty summit, looking seaward and landward, lies 
a vast extent of land and water reaching beyond 
the range of the observer's vision. The ocean, 
the bay, and the islands that fleck it, with the 
bold headlands, whose rocky ramparts court 
while they repel the fury of the angry sea, with 
Point Judith, the most prominent and, to the im- 



78 A MEMORIAL OF 

periled manner driven by fierce gales upon a lee 
shore, die most dangerous of them all. On this 
lofty outlook was the watch-tower from which the 
sentinels in times of war or threatening danger 
could detect the approach of enemies when afar 
off, whether by sea or land. The lofty outlook 
still remains, but no threatening peril now disturbs 
these quiet scenes, either by day or night. The 
wide, extended view is even more picturesque 
than in the past, but the activities of busy life 
have transplaced the scenes of two centuries 
ago, when Baptists were found scattered among 
these early settlers. The farmer still cultivates 
the scanty soil, but the sound of the shuttle and 
the spindle make familiar music to hundreds of 
wage earners. The railway has invaded the 
rural quiet of the neighborhood, and the tourist 
and the pleasure seekers fill the summer months 
with their presence. The sea appears as busy as 
the land with all kinds of sailing crafts, and the 
swiftly gliding steamers, presenting ever varying 
and attractive scenes of marine beauty. 

The first Baptist church constituted in South 
Kingston was formed about 1680. And it is 
known that one existed in this part of the town 
as early as 1720, but for many years its condition 
was doubtful and its progress slow. Few data 
can now be obtained by which to learn its history. 
Indeed, it was not till 1781 that the present 
church took definite and orderly shape. The 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 79 

Centennial was observed with appropriate ser- 
vices, extending through four days, May 13-16, 
1 88 1 .* This whole community was predisposed to 
Baptist sentiments, and for many years no other 
church attempted an existence in this vicinity, 
save a small society of Quakers, who long main- 
tained worship in a plain, square building, with its 
two doors of entrance — one for males and one for 
females, according to the custom — quiet and un- 
pretentious in its whole appearance, as they were, 
and still are, accustomed to build. This was lo- 
cated on the main road, a short distance from 
where the Baptist church has long stood ; which 
building was as plain and unattractive as that of 
their quiet and orderly neighbors. This church 
for nearly half a century of its history had 
no house of worship, but held its meetings in 
private dwellings. Then it succeeded in the 
erection of one as plain and unpretentious as 
that of the Quakers. But it witnessed and was 



* It may be of small interest to the reader to know that into the fel- 
lowship of this church this writer was baptized by the able and honored 
pastor, Rev. Flavil Shurtlef, Nov. 1 6, 1834. From the same church, some 
years later, Feb. 3, 1838, he received his license to preach the gospel. 
By them he was honored with an invitation to preach their Centennial ser- 
mon, Sunday morning, May 15, 1 881. On this occasion Dr. Palmer was 
also an invited guest, and read a poem prepared for the occasion, and 
preached on the Monday evening following. Various other brethren par- 
ticipated in the services of the occasion, which continued through four 
days, and were exceedingly interesting, the proceedings being subsequently 
published in attractive form. At that time, the Rev. Wm. H. Pendleton 
was the esteemed and efficient pastor. He is still living and doing 
effective service in the ministry in the State of California. 



80 A MEMORIAL OF 

honored by some powerful revivals. In 1852, 
the present house, more commodious and at- 
tractive, was erected and dedicated December 15. 
The church had enjoyed the ministry of some 
able and godly men as pastors. In its earlier 
history the pastorates were for the most part 
protracted ; during its later history they have 
generally been very brief. 

The call so harmoniously extended to Mr. 
Palmer by the church was accepted, and he en- 
tered upon the new pastorate October 1, 1857, 
and remained with them till April 1, 1861, a 
period of three and one-half years. That this step 
was of divine direction he had abundant reason 
to believe, for the seal of divine approbation was 
set upon his work from the beginning. A revival 
almost at the commencement began in one of the 
out-stations, and soon extended over the whole 
field of the church's influence. Perhaps no three 
and one-half years of his ministry bore more 
signal tokens of the favor of God, and the power 
of the Spirit and the Word, than those of his 
Wakefield pastorate. He was accustomed in 
after years to refer to this period of his work 
with peculiar satisfaction, as perhaps the most 
marked in his ministry. It is with pleasure I give 
the following communication from an old per- 
sonal friend, one who was a prominent member 
of the church at the time, and actively engaged 
in securing his services as pastor, and as actively 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 81 

engaged in supporting him in his ministry during 
his pastorate.* 

Rev. E. T. Hiscox, D. D. Dear Brother : In reply to 
your request for some recollections of the pastorate of Dr. 
A. G. Palmer in Wakefield, I send you the following notes, 
hoping they may serve your purpose. 

About August, 1857, as a committee of the First Baptist 
Church, South Kingstown, Rhode Island, I attended the 
ordination of William Fitz, at the First Baptist Church, Wes- 
terly, Rhode Island, hoping to obtain some information in 
regard to securing a pastor for our church. There I was in- 
troduced to Rev. A. G. Palmer, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, 
who was contemplating a removal. He consented to come 
and preach for us in about two weeks. At the time named 
he and his wife came and put up with me. His preaching was 
so acceptable that the church gave him a unanimous call, at 
a salary of one thousand dollars, to commence his labors 
the first of October. He agreed to come again in two 
weeks to preach. In the mean time, the great financial 
crash of 1857 was upon us. When he came the second time 
he had great fears that the church would not be able to raise 
the salary. I told him if he would come I would personally 
guarantee his salary for six months. He came and com- 
menced his pastorate, October 1, 1857, and remained until 
April 1, 1861, three years and six months. 

Besides the regular services of the church we had some 
cottage meetings, some at Wakefield and some at Peace 
Dale. I think it was about the first of December, when one 

* D. M. C. Stedman, Esq. Mr. Stedman was one of the most active 
and prominent members of the church, and one of the most prominent 
citizens of the community as well. For many years he was cashier of the 
Wakefield Bank. His membership in the church must date back nearly, 
if not quite, fifty years. He still resides there in an honored old age, 
having long since retired from active business, but still an interested and 
active worshiper with the people of God, and deeply concerned in the 
welfare of that church. 



82 A MEMORIAL OF 

was appointed at what was known as Brown's School House, 
No. 9, Backside. The evening was quite cold and stormy. 
He had some doubts about going at all, but concluded to 
keep his appointment. When near the place he met some 
coming away, and said to them, " There is no meeting." 
" Yes," they said, " the house is so full we cannot get in." 
He went on, and when he entered the house he said it 
seemed as if the place was filled with the Holy Spirit. He 
told me that it was no effort to preach. The whole congre- 
gation was melted down, and all with one accord confessed 
their sins and glorified God. 

From that evening the work spread over all the eastern part 
of the town, Wakefield, Peace Dale, Narragansett Pier, Point 
Judith, and Backside. The meetings were held nearly every 
evening away from the church, except Sunday evenings. At 
the dining room in the boarding-house, Peace Dale ; at Tay- 
lor's hotel dining room, Narragansett Pier; at J. C. Tucker's, 
the upper and lower school houses, Point Judith • and at No. 
9 and io school houses, Backside. All the places were 
crowded, and sometimes even on cold nights there would be 
nearly as many outside the schcol houses as could get in ; 
with the windows open they would stand all the evening. 
The Holy Spirit seemed to pervade the entire neighborhood, 
while Bro. Palmer appeared specially endowed from on 
high. Every sermon, prayer, and song made an abiding im- 
pression on the people, and many were, I think, truly con- 
verted. There were added to our church about sixty. 
Quite a number were added to the Second Church, and 
several to the Congregational Church, Peace Dale. Some- 
times there was such a pressure we were obliged to have two 
meetings the same evening. I remember very well one 
night Bro. Palmer went to Peace Dale, and sent me to take 
charge of the meeting at No. io school house, Backside. I 
shall never forget the mighty power of God in that meeting, 
when three of the most substantial farmers of that neigh- 
borhood, men of influence, at least forty years old, arose 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 83 

and spoke for the first time in a religious meeting, confess- 
ing their sins and asking the prayers of Christians. All very- 
soon met with a change of heart, and subsequently became 
pillars in the church — one a deacon. One still remains. 
The meetings were continued all winter. A greater part of 
the time noon-day prayer meetings were held in Wakefield. 

Another scene comes before me so vividly, showing the 
extent and the deep influence of his preaching and the 
working of the Holy Spirit in the community, that I will 
relate it. At the closs of the meeting Friday evening, about 
the last of March, one of the brethren from Peace Dale said 
to me that there were some girls in the mill who wished me 
to come alone to the boarding-house Saturday afternoon at 
four o'clock. I was there a few minutes before time. When 
the factory stopped at four, nineteen young women came 
directly from the mill to the room. When I saw so many 
come in, all so deeply serious and anxious, I said within 
myself. "What can I do? O Lord, help me ! " I said 
something to each of them, drawing out their feelings, and 
had a season of prayer. Nearly all prayed vocally, confess- 
ing their sins and pleading for pardon. Some found peace 
there, and all were subsequently converted and identified 
themselves with Christians. Brother Palmer has always told 
me— and I think the last time I saw him— that his ministry here 
was the brightest spot in all his life work. And it well might 
be so, for I think he never preached as well before or since. 
He was then mature and ripe, with entire dependence on the 
Holy Spirit's power to save souls, and preached from a full 
heart the plain, simple truths of the gospel direct to the 
people. Subsequently, he seemed to aspire to a higher intel- 
lectual standard of preaching, presumably to reach a more 
cultivated class of hearers. He preached the associational 
sermon in 1861, in Wickford. It was a wonderful sermon ; all 
praised it. I remember while we were riding home together 
of saying to him : " Bro. Palmer, you are pruning and con- 
densing your sermons too much. Condensed food is not so 



84 A MEMORIAL OF 

easily digested as that of a more crude nature. What the 
people want is plain, simple truth, that they understand and 
can comprehend, presented to them in their own language." 

He was very prominent in the formation of the Narra- 
gansett Baptist Association, which had been for some time 
in contemplation. At an informal meeting of several pastors 
of the south part of the State, composing the State Conven- 
tion, held April 24, i860, he was chosen chairman of a com- 
mittee to invite all the churches south of the latitude of East 
Greenwich to meet and deliberate upon the expediency of 
forming an Association in the south part of the State. They 
were invited to appoint their pastor and one or more dele- 
gates to meet with the Second Baptist Church, Richmond, 
June 19, i860. The meeting convened accordingly June 
19, i860, at 9 o'clock, a. m., and was called to order by 
Rev. Henry Jackson, D. D., pastor of the Central Baptist 
Church, Newport. Rev. Samuel Adlam, pastor of First 
Baptist Church, Newport, was chosen moderator, and D. M. 
C. Stedman, Clerk. Bro. Palmer preached at 11 o'clock. 
He was appointed chairman of four of the committees on 
organization, and also to write the circular letter to the first 
session of the Association. At the next session of the body 
he preached the associational sermon, already referred to. 

Our church, during his pastorate in 1858, reached the 
highest number of members ever reported to the Association. 
The church also obtained its present Charter of Incorpora- 
tion, which embraces only its spiritual membership. Perhaps 
he accomplished as much real and substantial work during this 
pastorate as for any three and one-half years of his long and 
successful ministry. He has always been esteemed here very 
highly, and the very few remaining older members remember 
him with the most affectionate regard. In 1858-9 he was 
practically editor of the "South County Journal," after- 
ward and now the " Narragansett Times." 

Your friend and brother, D. M. C. Stedman. 

Wakefield, R. I., December 4, 1891. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, Z>, D. 85 

Early in 1861, the church in Stonington, after 
various pastoral changes and much unrest, and 
with no small discouragement as to both their 
temporal and spiritual concerns, extended to Mr. 
Palmer a call to return and resume the pastoral 
charge. It can well be seen that such a call in 
the circumstances would appeal powerfully both 
to his heart and his judgment. And at the same 
time, to leave a field to which he had become 
strongly attached, and where his labors had re- 
ceived abundant tokens of the divine favor, even 
from the beginning, would require great search- 
ings of heart and no small struggle. His present 
salary was larger than that which in their de- 
pressed condition the church at Stonington could 
offer him. Moreover, his present charge was in 
a prosperous condition, with every promise of 
continued and enlarged usefulness, and was 
united in wishing him to remain ; while the 
church which sought his return was in a de- 
pressed and discouraged state, both financially 
and spiritually. And further, it may be said, the 
church at Stonington, his old home, and for 
which he had not ceased to cherish the most 
affectionate remembrance, believed him to be 
the only man on whom they could unite, and who 
could unite them, and successfully lead them on 
to retrieve their impaired fortunes. He was 
written to and visited by members, and impor- 
tuned to return and take up what they claimed 



86 A MEMORIAL OF 

was his unfinished work in his old field. It would 
be going back to his native State, though not 
indeed to his native town. It would be placing 
him again in the midst of old friends, both in the 
church, the community, and the ministry of the 
surrounding country. And so after due deliber- 
ation he decided to accept the call so heartily 
given. 

Nor does it appear that he had any occasion 
to regret the step he took, or to feel that he had 
been mistaken in his decision. Accordingly he 
offered his resignation, which was reluctantly 
accepted, and his pastorate in Wakefield termi- 
nated April i, 1 86 1. His name is still honored 
through all that town, and his memory is revered 
and cherished by all who live to remember him 
as their former pastor and friend. 




Albert -G. Palmer, D. D. 

At the Age of Fifty-five Years. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, I). I), $7 



XIII. 

Final Pastorate at Stonington. 

The call extended to him was voted January 7, 
1 86 1, but their church records make no mention, 
strange to say, of any further communications with 
him, of any reply from him, of the acceptance of 
the call, or any reference to the time when he 
began his ministry. But as he closed his pastor- 
ate in Wakefield, April 1, 1861, and as there is a 
minute of his presiding at a business church 
meeting in Stonington, May 27, 1861, we may 
naturally infer that his pastorate commenced 
May 1, 1 861. And yet a manuscript history of 
the church for this period states that "in Febru- 
ary, 1 86 1, we find the Rev. Mr. Palmer again 
assuming the pastoral relation broken nine years 
before." The date here given must be a mistaken 
one, as he did not leave Wakefield till April 
1, 1861. 

His former ministry in Stonington extended 
over a period of nine years. And nine years 
more had passed since he left the place, occupied 
by his three pastorates, in Syracuse, Bridgeport, 
and Wakefield. He was now forty-eight years 
old, in the maturity and strength of a vigorous 



88 A MEMORIAL OF 

manhood, and in the flush and richness of a 
Christian and ministerial experience. It was 
twenty-seven years since his ordination. He 
came back to his old home, to meet old friends 
and to make new ones, to assume responsibilities 
both old and new. He came back to begin a 
thirty years' work, that should end only with his 
life, probably without in the least dreaming of 
what was before him, except that he should be 
faithful in the ministry committed to him, and 
abide whatever results it might bring, until the 
Master should call him elsewhere to labor, or 
above to rest. The call finally came from above, 
to rest. 

During the nine years of his absence the 
fortunes of the church had been varied, but on 
the whole, not prosperous. Several pastors had 
ministered to them, but no great amount of suc- 
cess had attended their labors. And when he 
returned, the church was not so strong as to 
either temporal or spiritual concerns, as when he 
left them nine years before. Their lost strength 
and unity however, under his fostering care, were 
subsequently restored. 

It would, of course, be impracticable to follow, 
in its minute detail, the course of the thirty years' 
ministry, as it transpired in actual history, or as 
it reproduces itself in the memory of those who 
lived it through with him, who was the chief actor 
in, and the chief maker of that history. But it 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 89 

will be consistent with the plan of this memorial 
to note some prominent features, some marked 
incidents, as they occurred from time to time 
along the line of march. For that thirty years, 
almost the life-time of a generation, was not a 
monotonous dead level, but was marked by all 
the variety of trials and of triumphs, of sorrow 
and of joy, incident to human experience, both in 
his own personal and domestic history, and in 
that of his church, and the community of which 
himself and family constituted so important a 
part. 

THE MINISTRY OF REVIVALS. 

The church through its entire history had been 
what is called "a revival church." It had ex- 
perienced from time to time seasons of special 
religious awakening and enlargement. Indeed, 
this condition of church life prevailed through 
Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island in a spe- 
cial manner. With such a history, and such ex- 
periences often repeated, it is but natural that 
churches should come to rely more on periodical, 
or occasional reviving and upbuilding, than on 
steady growth by the use of divinely appointed 
means, made effectual by the Spirit's power. 
And yet special revivals must not be depreciated. 
They are the conditions of the church's growth, 
and of its very life. They are the conditions of 
the enlargement of the kingdom of God in the 
world. Revivals reanimate the languid graces 



90 A MEMORIAL OF 

of the saints, and arouse the apathetic and slum- 
bering church, renewing their spiritual life, while 
they multiply converts to righteousness. The 
churches indeed should not wait for special times, 
but remain in a constant attitude of prayer, " O 
Lord, revive thy work"; and in a constant atti- 
tude of active preparation, " Prepare ye the way 
of the Lord, make his paths straight," bringing 
"all the tithes into his storehouse"; and then 
receive with thanksgiving the revival, whenever 
the Spirit in his sovereign power sees fit to give it. 

At various times most gracious outpourings of 
the Spirit were experienced, and the church 
quickened and enlarged. During the winter of 
1865 and the spring of 1866, a very powerful 
revival was experienced. The church records 
make no mention of this gracious work. From 
incidental sources we learn that fifty were added 
to the church, not a few of whom, in after years 
became pillars in the temple. It was probably 
in this revival that special note was taken of the 
conversion of Mrs. Palmer's entire and very large 
Bible class, which she had long taught under 
great discouragement. But though the time of 
sowing and of waiting had been long and weary, 
the time of reaping came at length. In June 
following the church reported to the Association 
a membership of three hundred and ninety-two. 

In the spring of 1868, after a season of special 
meetings, there were added thirty converts. Dur- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, I). D. 91 

ing the winter 187 1-2, Rev. A. P. Graves assisted 
the pastor during a season of evangelistic ser- 
vices, the result of which was the addition of 
twenty by baptism, besides a very manifest 
quickening of the church. During the winter of 
1878-9, extra meetings were held, conducted by 
Rev. S. H. Pratt, and as a result the church was 
much revived and thirty were added by baptism. 
During the winter of 1883, Rev. Mr. Dickinson 
assisted the pastor in special services, and eleven 
were added by baptism. In the spring of 1884, 
there was a season of extra interest, when I think 
the pastor conducted meetings without other 
help, and twenty-five new converts were baptized. 
And so late as in the spring of 1887, as the result 
of special endeavors, during which the Rev. Mr. 
Piddock assisted the pastor, twenty-four were 
baptized into the fellowship of the church. It 
must not be understood that no additions were 
made to the church save such as came into its 
fellowship during these times of special effort. 
Single accessions, and from time to time, the few 
as well as the many conversions and additions 
took places. As with other churches, some 
among the most valuable of their members were 
gathered in during times of prevailing spiritual 
dearth and decline. The Spirit works according 
to his own sovereign good pleasure when and as 
he pleases, confined to no persons and to no 
methods, but using such as may seem to him 



92 A MEMORIAL OF 

good. The pastor kept faithfully at work, and 
his labors were blessed. The ingathering, when 
the harvest did come, was made possible chiefly 
by the preparation previously made through 
his faithful seed-sowing, watering, waiting, and 
watching. 

Nearly all of our New England Baptist 
churches, to speak of no others, were born in, 
and their infancy, if not their maturity, nourished 
by revivals. Whatever mistakes, or even abuses, 
may at any time have been connected with them, 
it would be rank arrogance, and as rank ingrati- 
tude, to attempt to discredit these works of the 
right hand of the Most High, these seasons of 
refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Dur- 
ing the two decades, from 1840 to i860, New 
London county was swept by floods of living 
waters in the triumphs of the gospel. Not a 
few unjustifiable extravagancies were no doubt 
at times witnessed during the many and sweep- 
ing - revivals which occurred in cases where these 
movements were conducted by well-meaning, but 
incautious and ill-balanced men. 

Dr. Palmer was often heard in later years to 
lament the lack of revival power in the churches 
and in himself. His preaching, he would say, 
while it might have been abler, seemed to him- 
self to lack the unction which formerly con- 
victed the consciences and moved the hearts of 
his hearers. It was not as it was in his earlier 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 93 

days. Many of his brethren in the ministry have 
felt and deplored the same want. How often 
he had expressed the desire to witness and take 
part in another gracious revival ! But a few 
months before his death he expressed to me the 
desire that we might go once more to the old 
church on the hill, where he began his ministry, 
and hold some meetings. Spoke with the en- 
thusiasm of youth of the improved house of 
worship there, and how the prospects of the 
church seemed brightening. And only a few 
weeks before his final illness, he wrote me re- 
questing that I would come down, spend a week 
with him in nightly meetings, and see if the Lord 
would not hear prayer and revive his work. I 
did go on and spend a Sunday with him, relieving 
him by occupying the pulpit, morning and even- 
ing, in the new and beautiful house then recently 
dedicated. But the conditions were most unfa- 
vorable for any special work. It was easy also 
to see that his strength was unequal to such a 
service. It was the last time I saw him alive. 
He preached a few sermons after that, but the 
wheel was broken at the cistern, and he ceased 
from his labors and entered into rest. 

A DESERVED HONOR CONFERRED. 

In the summer of 1862, he received the hon- 
orary degree of " Doctor in Divinity," from 
Madison University, in the State of New York, 



94 A MEMORIAL OF 

and never did they confer that honor more worth- 
ily. It is said the president remarked, in an- 
nouncing the name, that the university was as 
much honored in conferring, as he was in receiv- 
ing the title bestowed. He was eminently learned 
in theological science, and his theology was 
strictly biblical, and not that of the schools, the 
standards, or the creeds, though with these was 
he familiar. He never sought notoriety; he did 
not push himself into notice ; he was not much in 
the eyes of the great, noisy, busy public ; he did 
not covet newspaper fame, and when it was be- 
stowed, it did not elate him. His modesty kept 
him, perhaps, too much in retirement, but all 
who came in contact with him received decided 
impressions of his ability and his worth. While 
he would not seek even recognition, like every 
other man, he was gratified by any expression of 
kindly favor which his friends might give. 

HIS GENERAL HEALTH. 

Dr. Palmer was by no means a strong, robust 
man, and yet for the most part through life, he 
had enjoyed a good degree of health. With a 
nervous, bilious temperament, he inclined to in- 
tensity of mental action, with great vigor and 
force of physical activity. This had a tendency 
to exhaust his vital forces, and great prostration 
was liable to follow. He began his ministry with 
a somewhat enfeebled constitution, but subse- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 95 

quently his health became established. Several 
times during his ministry his work was tempor- 
arily interrupted by nervous prostration. But 
he possessed great rallying powers, and after a 
brief period of rest, he was at his work again as 
vigorously as ever. He did not take regular 
vacations as his brethren in the ministry were 
accustomed to do. And when taken they were 
not protracted. At one time, a slight attack of 
facial paralysis quite alarmed his family, and 
caused great anxiety in the church. He himself 
began to think it possible his active usefulness 
might be near its end. But after a period of 
rest, his health seemed quite restored. Some 
years later, a second similar attack was experi- 
enced, but not as severe, and from its effects he 
speedily recovered, and no further return was 
ever experienced. For the last twenty years his 
health had probably been as good, and his 
powers of endurance as great, as during any 
period of his life, — certainly up to within a com- 
paratively short time before it closed. With the 
natural and inevitable decay of the vital forces 
which comes with increasing years, his mental 
and physical faculties remained in healthful 
activity till near the close of his life, — a life 
which had been a very active one, — and so con- 
tinued to the end. He died in the pastorate, as 
he had wished, and preached but three weeks 
before the end finally came. That sermon was 



96 A MEMORIAL OF 

said by those who heard it to be a very remark- 
able one for pathos and power, and has been 
often referred to by the hearers. It had the 
effect to bring one, at least, to give himself 
wholly to Christ and the church, according to 
his own statement. He was subsequently bap- 
tized and admitted to the church. The text of 
that discourse was, " Mark the perfect man and 
behold the upright : for the end of that man is 
peace." A fitting epitaph for the preacher, so 
soon to lay down his ministry. No manuscript 
of the discourse can be found, and whether it was 
wholly extemporaneous is not now known. Nor 
can any one recall more than a general impres- 
sion, with some of the particular utterances it 
contained. No one at the time supposed it 
would prove his last appeal from the pulpit. 

SHADOWS ON THE HOME. 

The sorest trial that ever befel his domestic 
life, after the loss of his first wife, was the death 
of his beloved and almost idolized daughter, 
Bessie. This occurred November 24, 1876, at 
the age of twenty-two years. He was devotedly 
attached to his family, and bound by the strong- 
est ties of affection to his children, as all who 
have shared his hospitality as privileged inmates 
of his home will testify. But his two daughters 
were his special delight ; not in the gratification 
of any weak and foolish fondness, but as the 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 97 

expression of a kind father's appreciative love. 
Bessie possessed many admirable qualities of 
mind and heart, but the sweet serenity of her 
spirit, her gentle and affectionate disposition, 
made her a general favorite both within and 
beyond the bounds of her home. Adding to 
and beautifying all her other qualities, was the 
charm of a sincere and consistent piety. Music 
was her special recreation and delight, and for it 
she developed marked and unusual capabilities. 
So manifest was this that her parents resolved to 
give her a thorough musical education, and fit 
her for a teacher. In the realization of this pur- 
pose, she was sent to the Boston Conservatory 
for instruction and training, where for three years 
she enjoyed and improved the best advantages 
that institution could afford, in which she com- 
pleted her musical studies, and from which she 
graduated with honors. And then, just as their 
endeavors and self-denials were coming to their 
fruitage, and their hopes were about to be real- 
ized, death came into the household an unwel- 
come guest, and after a brief but painful illness, 
she died a triumphant death, and passed to the 
home above, to unite in the perfect harmonies of 
the song of Moses and the Lamb. It was an- 
other star which helped to light the earthly pil- 
grimage, not extinguished, but translated to a 
serener sphere, to shine with added lustre 
amidst celestial orbs of light. In a poem to 



98 A MEMORIAL OF 

"My vanished child," subsequently written, the 
following stanza tells something of his grief, in 
which the entire household shared : 

Oh, darling, dost thou live, and dost thou know 
How well we loved thee, how we love thee still ? 
And our sore hearts cry out for thee, until 

Down, gleaming through our blinding tears and woe, 
Thou seemest to us, loving, gladsome, bright, 
Our sunshine still, making our darkness light. 

A BREAK IN THE RANKS. 

One of the most vexatious of questions likely 
to rise in a pastor's experience concerns parties 
and factions in the church, always possible, but 
comparatively infrequent, in which a section of 
the body believes it can no longer act in harmony 
with the majority, but must stand aloof, or retire, 
on some difference of doctrine or of practice. 
The matter is made rather worse than better 
when they insist that it is a question of conscience 
with them. People who are conscientiously mis- 
taken, or in the wrong, are the most difficult 
people in the world to get along with. And it is 
no unusual thine for them to mistake their will 
for their conscience. Somewhere about 1872-, 
there came to Stonington certain brethren from 
outside, and stirred up the community into much 
excitement on the Second Advent doctrine. Now 
Dr. Palmer, and probably his entire church, held 
to the belief of Christ's second coming. But so 
much did not satisfy these excitable theorists. 



ALBERT GALEA TIN PALMER, D. D. 99 

That one thing must take precedence of all else — 
Christ was coming. The time drew near, and he 
even now stood before the door. All of which 
might be true, but they knew no more about it 
than did others. Their meetings naturally at- 
tracted a crowd, and they as naturally gained 
some converts from the various churches. Dr. 
Palmer was calm, considerate, conservative, and 
conciliating. Some of the members, and a few 
who were among the best and most devout, were 
captured by this to them new phase of the 
Christian faith. 

All this region had been swept by a tide of 
adventism and the near approach of the world's 
end thirty years before ; but this was a revival 
which appealed to a new generation. The diffi- 
culty lay not so much in the falsity of the doc- 
trine, as in the schismatic manner in which it was 
urged. There was no fault found with the pastor, 
except that he did not adopt their views and 
methods, and enter with their zeal on a crusade 
upon that community in its advocacy. He had a 
distinct conception of what was his duty in the 
case, and could not be moved away from that 
line of action. He was kind, but firm. He did 
not berate them, nor use harshness ; but he 
counselled them, prayed for them, and left the 
result with God. A considerable company, for 
the time beinor o-athered from various sources in 
the community, united and established separate 
L.ofC. 



100 A MEMORIAL OF 

meetings in a hall, where they continued, with 
varying success, to hold forth their faith, and to 
proclaim the faithlessness of the churches. It 
was a great grief to him to lose the fellowship 
and the co-operation of brethren whom he loved, 
and still respected for their honesty, if not for 
their discretion. It is proper to add that these 
separate meeting of the Adventists were main- 
tained with varying fortunes for a year or two, and 
then gradually dissolved and disappeared. Some 
of them went back and found a place again in the 
old church house, some left the community, and 
others drifted about lost to Christian fellowship 
and usefulness, without any church home. Just 
what was foreseen and foretold. 

HIS VOLUME OF POEMS. 

In the year 1884, was issued a volume of 
poems by Dr. Palmer, entitled " Psalms of Faith 
and Songs of Life," edited by his daughter, Miss 
Sara A. Palmer, herself possessing a strong cur- 
rent of poetic inspiration. Spiritual and poetic 
inspirations are nearly allied, if not, as is prob- 
able, identical, at least in their higher ideals. 
Spiritual inspiration in its loftiest realization is 
always poetical ; while poetic inspiration in its 
purest and sublimest realm is always spiritual. 
This is said of the inspiration, not of the expres- 
sion. Language hampers thought, and binds 
down the free visions of the imagination to me- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 101 

chanical forms of expression. The vivid pictures 
both of faith and of fancy may seem tame and 
dull when limited by verbal rhythm. Through 
his life Dr. Palmer was on familiar terms with 
the muses, and enjctyed their fellowship not in 
vain. The volume published received kind and 
favorable notice from the press, both religious 
and secular. The same was true of the English 
press, whose favorable comments were very 
gratifying to the author, and to his friends as well. 
So did it from a wide circle of personal friends 
who were favored by the reception of copies, and 
from not a few of well-known literary reputation. 
A very generous note of recognition received 
from the poet Whittier was greatly prized and 
carefully cherished, a copy of which is hereto ap- 
pended.* 

* Whittier, New England's pride and America's cherished son of song, 
whose devout spirit, pure character, and noble life have endeared him to 
the good of all lands. He has just passed out of this life to sing his songs 
in a fairer sphere. Died September 7, 1892, at Hampton Falls, N. H. 
The following is Mr. Whittier' s letter, addressed to the daughter, in ac- 
knowledgment of a copy of her father's poems : 

( Oak Knoll, Danvers, Mass. 
t 3d Mo. 5, 1881. 

Dear Friend : I should sooner have answered thy note but for illness. 
I have been reading thy father's poems with great satisfaction. The re- 
ligious pieces are especially valuable. The airs of heaven seem to be 
blowing over them. And I like much the genial catholic spirit of the 
lighter poems. Icobed Palmer and Betty Noyes is a pleasing Yankee 
pastoral. I heartily thank thee for the beautiful volume. The face of thy 
father in the frontispiece is a benediction. 

I am gratefully thy friend, 

John G. Whittier. 



102 -4 MEMORIAL OF 

His poems were pastoral, patriotic, elegiac 
obituary, " in memoriam " of many personal 
friends, loved and honored. His descriptive 
pieces were largely commemorative of persons, 
places, and events connected with the scenes of 
his childhood and his early years. He did not, 
however, affect to be a poet. All this was pas- 
time. He was a preacher of the gospel. That 
was his vocation. All else was incidental. The 
volume published is only a considerable part of 
what he wrote. Much probably of equal merit 
was left behind, especially a very successful 
attempt at rendering into English verse that 
grand old Latin hymn, the Dies Irae, at which 
nearly every considerable religious poet of 
modern times has tried his hand. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. i()3 



XIV. 

A Notable Event. 

On October 5, 1887, transpired one of the 
most notable events of his life. In some respects, 
the most so. That was his " golden jubilee," or 
the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination and set- 
ting apart to the work of the gospel ministry. 
It was proposed to celebrate the occasion by giv- 
ing him a general reception of friends from far 
and near, with appropriate exercises, to conclude 
with a banquet tendered by his congregation. 
The Stonington Union Association with which 
he had been so many years connected, entered 
heartily into the proposal — indeed, I think it origi- 
nated with them — and appointed a committee 
from that body to represent them, and co-operate 
with other friends in carrying out the project, of 
which committee Rev. Dr. Miner, of Mystic, was 
Chairman. With him were associated Rev. I. P. 
Brown, of New London, Rev. E. Dewhurst, of 
Voluntown, and others. His brethren in the 
ministry cheerfully participated, invitations were 
issued, and the project was carried through with 
marked success. It seemed spontaneous in many 
minds, and when once proposed, was at once ac- 



104 A MEMORIAL OF 

cepted by universal and enthusiastic consent, not 
by his own congregation alone, but by the entire 
community, and indeed by neighboring com- 
munities of all denominations. It was generally 
agreed that a special celebration of that occasion 
would be a fitting and beautiful tribute of respect 
and affection to one so universally esteemed and 
honored. Many kind letters of regret and con- 
gratulation were received from those who could 
not be present. The following from the poet 
Whittier, directed to the committee on invitations, 
is worthy of a place here : 

Oak Knoll, Danvers, Mass., ioth Mo. 4, 1887. 
Dear Friend : I have this moment received thy invita- 
tion to the celebration of Dr. Palmer's fiftieth anniversary. 
I have only time to express my high respect for Dr. Palmer 
as a devoted Christian minister, and my admiration for his 
beautiful contributions to the hymns of the ages. Many of 
them are dear to the hearts of thousands. To their high 
literary merit is added " the beauty of holiness." 
I am truly thy friend, 

John G. Whittier. 

This autograph is with good reason fondly 
cherished by the family. 

The afternoon session was largely attended. 
Interesting addresses were made, interspersed 
with appropriate music. At the close, abundant 
refreshments were provided, with which extensive 
ranges of tables banked with flowers, were laden, 
and the numerous company sat down to the good 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 105 

cheer. The evening's exercises were enjoyed by 
a still larger company. Appropriate music inter- 
spersed the addresses both afternoon and even- 
ing, and an original hymn, written for the occasion 
by the daughter. Miss Sara A. Palmer, was 
sung. In the afternoon, Rev. P. G. Wightman 
presided, and brief addresses were made by Rev. 
C. Potter, Judge Wheeler, Dr. J. E. Weeden, 
Rev. O. T. Walker, Rev. C. H. Spaulding, Rev. 
C. A. Piddock, Hon. S. T. Stanton, Deacons Ray 
and Smith. In the evening, Dr. G. H. Miner 
presided, and addresses were made by Gov. 
James L. Howard, Drs. Edward Lathrop and P. 
A. Nordell. It had been expected that this writer 
would have taken a prominent part in the pro- 
gram of the evening. But unfortunately he was 
detained by illness, and could only send an ap- 
preciative letter of congratulation and regret. 
At the close of the exercises, the chairman called 
upon Dr. Palmer for a response. With much 
emotion he responded, " His words were few, 
but his heart was full." Thus ended a memorable 
occasion, not only memorable for the Baptists of 
Stonington and their pastor, but for all the people 
of this region. The entire proceedings were 
noteworthy, and the occasion was widely com- 
mented on, by both the New England and New 
York journals. It was an ovation of which any 
man might be proud, and of which no man 
could have been a more worthy recipient. 



106 A MEMORIAL OF 

MOVEMENT FOR A NEW CHURCH BUILDING. 

A natural and logical result from the jubilee 
was a movement for a new church building. 
Their old house, erected in 1834-5, though com- 
fortable and every way respectable, was not 
wholly convenient, and really did not meet the 
demands either of the church or of the com- 
munity. Talks of enlargement and improvement 
had on several occasions been had. Now it came 
up again for consideration. The people did not 
feel able to build anew, and to improve the 
present edifice, which had now been in use for 
nearly sixty years, was far from satisfactory. 
Though centrally located, the lot on which it 
stood was small, and much cramped by its sur- 
roundings. 

After due consideration, it became evident that 
no improvement or change of that edifice prac- 
ticable could be made satisfactory to the people. 
The next step was a heroic effort to secure a 
pledged subscription for a new house, that should 
cost twenty-five thousand dollars. It was not an 
easy task. There is a great difference in com- 
munities. Stonington is not a business centre, 
with manufactures and other monetary enter- 
prises bringing in traffic and funds in abundance. 
In such communities, where money is in free 
circulation, such an enterprise has a more hopeful 
outlook. But to the surprise of many this propo- 
sition met with marked favor. The general 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 107 

interest attending the jubilee had given the peo- 
ple a broader horizon in which to contemplate 
their own church life and Christian endeavor. 
And the idea of doing something new, and at the 
same time something noble, has always an 
inspiration, which stimulates courage, self-denial, 
and even self-sacrifice. 

The people had a mind to work, and the 
leaders believed it could be done. All things are 
possible to them that believe. And it was done. 
There is no need of going into a detailed narra- 
tion of the various steps by which difficulties were 
overcome, differences of opinion harmonized, 
dead points safely passed, unity maintained, all 
of which were of vital interest to those engaged, 
a final success achieved, and the top stone 
brought forth with joy, crying, " Grace, grace unto 
it." The people had a mind to give as well as to 
work, and the more they gave the more interest 
they felt in the enterprise, and the more satisfac- 
tion they derived from it. Such an effort always 
develops the grandest spirits and the noblest 
characters in a church, the best workers and 
the most generous givers in the community. Of 
all the workers, it is safe to say, that none were 
more interested or more efficient than the pas- 
tor's family — naturally so, though of necessity 
thev could not be the largest givers, save of time 
and influence. Mrs. Palmer was untiring in 
efforts to cheer, encourage, and stimulate in the 



108 A MEMORIAL OF 

work, and the daughter was ceaseless in her 
endeavors, and so efficient withal, that her father 
was inclined to believe the enterprise would have 
met a failure, but for the persistent influence she 
exerted. She felt that it must be accomplished, 
and would prove a closing triumph to the long 
and honored ministry of the father she so greatly 
revered. Other members of the family, though 
away from home, were by no means uninterested 
observers of the undertaking. 

Work on the new building began late in 1888, 
and in July, 1889, the corner stone was laid with 
appropriate ceremonies. In July, 1890, the house 
was substantially completed, at a cost of about 
twenty-five thousand dollars, and save a balance 
of three thousand five hundred dollars, paid for. 
October 29, 1890, the public dedication of the 
building to the worship of God occurred, and the 
old house, which had been used for more than half 
a century was abandoned as a place of religious 
resort ; abandoned it may be said with gladness, 
and yet with sadness. With it were associated 
many sweet and sacred memories, especially 
on the part of the older members, and no 
language could tell the endearments by which 
that place was enshrined in the pastor's heart. 
But the time had come to bury the dead past, 
however dear, and go forward. 

The new building is located on the principal 
street of the village, and occupies the site on 




Memorial Window, New Baptist Church. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 109 

which the old parsonage stood. It is an ornament 
to the town, and an attractive, and in all respects a 
most convenient house of worship, greatly cred- 
itable to the taste, enterprise, and devotion of 
those who conceived and achieved the project. 
In a material point of view it was regarded by 
Dr. Palmer and his friends as the crowning act 
of his long, and what would necessarily be, his 
closing ministry. A beautiful and most conve- 
nient parsonage was also erected by the munifi- 
cence of a few of the members on a side street 
adjoining, and communicating with the rear of 
the church by a private passage. It often hap- 
pens that conveniences and advantages that 
would have been greatly enjoyed in early years, 
come to us too late in life to be of large 
practical advantage, however great the gratifica- 
tion they may bring. The new pulpit for his use, 
and the new parsonage for the use of his family, 
were not to be for long enjoyment. They how- 
ever well knew the probabilities of the future, 
and when the time came, gave them up to him 
who had provided them, not indeed without 
emotion, but without murmuring, looking for a 
city that hath foundation, and a house not made 
with hands. 

At the dedication, Rev. Dr. Andrews, president 

of Brown University, preached in the forenoon, 

Dr. Palmer offering the prayer of dedication, Dr. 

Miller presiding, Dr. Miner taking part in the 

10 



HO A MEMORIAL OF 

services. In the evening, the exercises were of a 
more oreneral character. Lieut. Gov. Howard, of 
Hartford, presided. A historical paper was read, 
and Gov. Howard addressed the meeting, fol- 
lowed by Dr. Hiscox, of New York ; Dr. Nordell, 
of New London ; Rev. Principal Scott, of Suffield ; 
Rev. P. S. Evans, of Hartford ; and Rev. C. J. 
Hill, of Stonington. At the close, Dr. Palmer 
rose and with deep feeling responded to the kind 
congratulations of the occasion, expressing his 
great satisfaction and devout thankfulness at 
the successful issue of the generous endeavors of 
the people. He added that he wished to try his 
voice in the new house, and therefore intended to 
preach there on the next Sunday. This he did 
with great apparent satisfaction to himself, and 
certainly with great satisfaction to his hearers. 
That sermon was the real "dedication sermon." 
His intellectual vigor was remarkable, and his 
perception of spiritual truth never seemed clearer. 
His sermon touched all hearts. 

A striking and beautiful feature of the new 
edifice is the large stained-glass memorial window 
in the north elevation of the main audience room, 
and dedicated by the generosity and affection of 
the relatives and friends of the pastor. The 
central panel represents Moses giving the Law, 
and was the gift of his four sons and the daughter 
to the memory of their loved and honored father. 
The side panels, one representing Paul preaching 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. \\\ 

the gospel, the other Stephen receiving- inspira- 
tion from heaven, were the gifts of brothers, 
sisters, and personal friends. Several other me- 
morial windows of smaller dimensions orna- 
ment the audience room, and impart an aspect 
of artistic beauty to the place, while they bring 
to loving remembrance the departed, and har 
monize well with the spirit of worship. Most of 
the furniture consisted of memorial gifts in 
recognition of the worth of the living, or the vir- 
tues of the dead ; especially were the pulpit, with 
its furniture, and the seating of the infant class- 
room given in memory of the pastor's daughter, 
Miss Bessie H. Palmer, early removed to her 
heavenly home. 



112 A MEMORIAL OF 



XV. 

The Last of Earth. 

Dr. Palmer's health had never been robust, as 
has already been remarked, and yet through a 
long and active life, he had for the most part 
maintained a vigorous constitution, and great 
physical energy and activity. His predominant 
nervous temperament was inclined to over-action, 
and therefore to occasional re-action. But such 
a temperament, with great force of will, pos- 
sessed remarkable recuperative powers. Occa- 
sionally he would be quite prostrated, but after 
temporary rest and change of scenery, he would 
return to his duties, apparently as well and cheer- 
ful as ever. On the whole, for the last ten or 
twelve years, possibly for twenty, his general 
health had been perhaps as good as at any time 
during his life, up to within a year of its close. 
Then there came to be at times unmistakable 
signs of a giving way, a gradual crumbling of 
the foundations. Strangers detected the tokens 
more readily than did his family. In this there 
was nothing remarkable. It was perhaps time, 
according to the course of nature, that the physi- 
cal machinery should begin to work slowly, suffer 




Albert G. Palmer, D. D. 

At the Age of Seventy Years. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. H3 

derangement, and give signs of decay. And yet 
after each decline there would follow a revival of 
languid energies, giving hope of more permanent 
recovery. But these hopeful tokens could not at 
his time of life be reasonably expected long to 
last. Through all these ups and downs, however, 
his mental faculties remained clear and strong. 
Not a few of his friends, and some of his own 
family, believed it would be better for him to re- 
sign the pastorate, and free himself from all 
sense of exacting responsibility, and preserve his 
strength so far and so long as possible. There 
were so many opportunities for his helpfulness 
among his brethren and the churches, all of whom 
looked up to him as a father and a friend. He 
could have worked when he felt like it, and rested 
when he wished. Five years before the close we 
kindly and earnestly urged upon him the expedi- 
ency of such a course. But it did not meet his 
views. He could not endure to think of not 
being pastor, surrounded by the loving sympathy 
of a church, still his own. With regard to this 
matter, his son writes : " Looking back over the 
past ten years, my one regret is that I did not 
insist on his resigning his pastorate at the com- 
mencement of that period, and coming here to 
rest and enjoy the life he so much loved. But 
he also loved his work in the church. His people 
at that time seemed devoted to him, and it did 
not seem either to mother, or to Sara, or even 



114 A MEMORIAL OF 

to himself, wise for him to retire. Indeed, to the 
very last, both mother and Sara thought he 
would never be contented out of harness. And 
so he died in it. But I shall carry through my 
life the regrets that I did not more actively 
oppose it. But he had his wish." 

Something more than a year before the final 
issue, he was rather suddenly prostrated by a 
severe illness, due chiefly to local physical diffi- 
culties. So severe and exhausting was this 
attack, that for a time both his physician and his 
family were doubtful of the final outcome. His 
son sent on from New York the most skillful 
medical aid for consultation and co-operation with 
his family doctor, and through the divine blessing 
and affectionate care, the crisis was safely passed, 
and he once more came back to life, to friends, 
and to some further service in the church. But 
he said that he had been so near the verge as to 
look over and catch a glimpse of the lights upon 
the farther shore. His return to life and earth 
seemed like coming away from the home of his 
soul, so dear, and to which he was so near. His 
spirit was attuned to the dirge-like aspiration of 
Tennyson, uttered from his sick bed : 

" When the dumb hour clothed in black, 
Brings the dreams about my bed, 
Call me not so often back, 
Silent voices of the dead, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 115 

Toward the lowland ways behind me, 

And the sunshine that is gone. 

Call me rather, silent voices, 

Forward to the starry track, 

Glimmering up the heights beyond me, 

On, and ever on ! " 
From this attack he recovered very slowly, and 
only partially. It was three months before he 
was able to perform service in the pulpit. His 
brethren in the ministry were extremely kind, as 
by turns they took his place, and as a service of 
love ministered to his people. Rev. Drs. Miller, 
Miner, and Nordell are specially to be noted as 
rendering this fraternal service. Others too, 
commanded his gratitude and that of the church. 
When at last he was able to engage in his " loved 
employ " once more, and preach the gospel of the 
blessed God to men, it was only for a single ser- 
vice on the Sabbath. The church very consider- 
ately, and very properly, secured the services of 
a divinity student, to preach once each Sunday, 
for six months. Even this help, while he grate- 
fully appreciated the thoughtful kindness of the 
church, he insisted that he did not need, as he felt 
able to preach in the evening as well as in the 
morning. But the people evidently judged the 
case more accurately than he himself did. When 
this engagement was completed, he again 
attempted the full Sunday service, but it was too 
much for his strength. His exhausted energies 
did not sustain the unequal task. 



116 A MEMORIAL OF 

Sunday, April 5, 1891, was my last visit with 
him, and when on the next day I bade himself 
and family good-bye to return home, I saw him 
for the last time alive. Some time previously I 
had promised to come on, when he felt the need 
of help, spend a Sunday and preach for him. 
The latter part of March he wrote me in accord- 
ance with the promise, desiring me to come for 
the first Sunday in the next month. Accordingly 
I went ; found him cheerful, and quite as vigor- 
ous as I had expected. He insisted on my going 
out with him to call on a few families of old 
friends, whom he always wished me to see when 
visiting there. But his step had lost the elastic- 
ity of other days, and though cheerful and buoy- 
ant in spirit, he seemed easily wearied. On 
Sunday I conducted the services, morning and 
evening, giving him entire relief, except to offer 
prayer. My visit was to me delightful, as my 
visits in his family had always been. To him it 
seemed a peculiar satisfaction to listen once more 
to the friend and companion of his early years ; 
to discuss current events, and talk over the far 
distant past. We parted, with little thought on 
my part, or probably on his, that we were to 
meet no more on earth, save at his funeral. 
Two or three brief notes were exchanged be- 
tween us after that visit ; then came a pause. I 
wrote again, and no reply. I became alarmed, 
with a vague apprehension that something more 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 117 

than oversight and neglect prevented a response. 
Then I wrote to his daughter, and received a 
speedy answer which realized my fears. He 
was very low, and sinking, evidently with but a 
short time to live. Later, the same day, June 
30, 1 89 1, a telegram was received announcing 
his death, and naming the day and hour of the 
funeral. 

For a few weeks after I had seen him in April, 
he appeared in comfortable health, and preached 
for several Sundays. But ebbing strength could 
not endure the strain, and again he yielded to 
weakness. His last sermon was preached May 
2 1 st. His illness increased, and it was thought 
that a change might benefit him. Accordingly it 
was decided that he should make a visit to his son, 
A. M. Palmer, at Stamford, Conn. He went. The 
journey was made with comparative comfort, but 
no benefit resulted. Indeed, he became worse ; 
so much so, that he desired to return home. He 
was taken on a couch to a drawing-room car, and 
reached home safely, taking his bed, from which 
it was destined he should not arise. For some 
three weeks he remained there, ministered to by 
the loving care of a faithful wife, and a daughter 
whose affectionate devotion knew no bounds. 
For the most part he was a great sufferer, though 
at the last, free from conscious pain, he sank 
quietly to rest, and slept. Thus to another of 
God's noble and devoted servants came release. 



118 A MEMORIAL OF 

Life's fitful dream was over, broken by the rising 
dawn of a brighter, and an endless day. The 
struggle was finished ; the battle was ended ; the 
victory won ; and the " well done, thou good and 
faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord," was realized by him, who had so often 
comforted sad hearts and cheered weary lives by 
these assurances. June 30th, 1891, at 2.30 p. m., 
in his seventy-ninth year, he fell asleep. 

No added word in this connection could be 
more appropriate than one of his own touching 
and beautiful poems. 

THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL. 
From the Latin of Musculus. 

How sinks my heart in death's cold deadly strife? 

Nothing of earth's sweet light to me remains. 
Yet Christ, m)t everlasting light and life, 

My fearing, trembling, sinking soul sustains. 

But why, my soul ! O wherefore shouldst thou fear 
To rise to the bright mansions of the blest? 

Behold, thy angel guide himself is near, 

To lead thee to yon seats of peace and rest. 

O leave this wretched, mouldering house of clay, 
Shattered and crumbling down to earth and dust, 

God's faithful hand will at the appointed day, 
A glorious form, restore the sacred trust. 

Ah ! thou hast sinned. Alas ! thou hast, I know ; 

But Christ has purged by his own precious blood, 
The sins of all believers, white as snow, 

In blood-washed robes presenting them to God ! 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. H9 

But death is terrible. It is, I know ; 

But when thy immortality is nigh, 
And when thy. Saviour calls thee from his throne, 

Wilt thou, O trembling soul, still fear to die? 

Since Christ for thee hath triumphed over death, 
And sin and Satan put beneath thy feet, 

Fear not to yield to him thy parting breath, 
But spread thy joyful wings thy Lord to meet. 



120 A MEMORIAL OF 



XVI. 

The Funeral Services. 

The funeral rites and the burial took place 
July 2d, commencing- at 2 p. m. All was sim- 
ple, appropriate, and without ostentation. All 
attempt at display was carefully avoided, which 
made the occasion more touching and impressive. 
Beautiful floral decorations, the gifts of reverent 
affection, were abundant and fitting. A large 
and chastened audience filled the new edifice, so 
recently dedicated by his presence and prayer, 
now consecrated by his presence in coffined 
silence. The crowding multitude had come to 
take a final look at their loved and honored 
pastor, and to say a last farewell. Fortunately 
no attempt was made to exhibit artistic music 
with which to torture the tender sensibilities of 
friends, or to make spectators undevout, as is too 
often done on special occasions. Three sweet, 
fitting, and familiar hymns, which he had loved to 
sing and to hear, were sung by the choir and the 
audience, with simple rendering and subdued 
emotion. Appropriate Scriptures were read, 
prayer offered, and the addresses made. Rev. 
C. A. Piddock, of Hartford, editor of the " Chris- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 121 

tian Secretary," a warm personal friend of the 
family, presided, and conducted the services. By 
some unexplained oversight, those who had been 
expected to make addresses on the occasion had 
not been notified to that effect, though duly in- 
vited to be present. It was the wish of the 
family that his old and life-long friend, the present 
writer, should make the first address. But of 
this he was not aware till called upon to speak. 
So with the others, except the Rev. Mr. Piddock, 
who had been requested to conduct the services 
with such remarks as he might be disposed to 
make. His address was most fitting and appropri- 
ate. It was perhaps quite as well on the whole that 
the addresses should be unpremeditated and 
spontaneous. For though less formally accurate, 
they likely would be more sympathetic and fra- 
ternal, as they probably were. 

The following constitutes the order and sub- 
stance of the funeral services, as phonographi- 
cally reported for the press at the time. 

FUNERAL SERVICES OF REV. DR. A. G. PALMER, STON- 
INGTON, CONN., JULY 2, I 89 I. 

"To-day has been a day of mourning for the 
inhabitants of Stonington, and many were the 
friends who came here from neighboring towns 
and cities, as well as from other States, to show 
their sympathy and to pay a last tribute of re- 
spect to the memory of Rev. Albert G. Palmer, 
11 



122 A MEMORIAL OF 

D. D., whose funeral obsequies were observed in 
the new edifice of the First Baptist Church, which 
was dedicated last fall, and which is a monument 
of the labors of the dead pastor. For thirty-nine 
years Dr. Palmer has labored faithfully and suc- 
cessfully in this town, and his genial disposition 
and tender regard for the feelings of others won 
for him the devotion and affection, not only of the 
members of the Baptist denomination, but of the 
entire community. He was deeply interested in 
the mission work of the State, and served as 
moderator at- the annual meetings of the Ston- 
ington Union Association seven times, and 
preached the annual sermon six times. 

'" There was a large attendance at the funeral 
to-day, the body of the church being completely 
filled, and the mournful expression on the faces 
of those present testified to the high esteem in 
which the deceased pastor was held. Beautiful 
floral pieces in abundance were arranged in front 
of and on the platform, and the table in the rear 
was artistically decorated with ferns and cut 
flowers. Among the floral gifts were a large 
cross seven feet high, bearing the inscription, 
■ Our pastor,' in purple immortelles, presented 
by the congregation. 

" The visiting clergy of Connecticut included 
Rev. Dr. Nordell, New London ; Rev. J. B. 
Brown, New London ; Rev. E. D. Miller, Groton ; 
Rev. D. H. Miller, D. D., Mystic ; Rev. G. H. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, I). D. 123 

Miner, D. D., Mystic; Rev. W. L. Swan, Noank; 
Rev. P. S. Evans, New Haven ; Rev. N. T. Allen, 
Groton ; Rev. Dr. Piddock, editor of ' Chris- 
tian Secretary,' Hartford ; Rev. E. Dewhurst, 
Voluntown ; Rev. Dr. Bixby, Providence ; and 
Rev. Dr. Hiscox, New York. 

" Rev. Dr. Piddock conducted the exercises, 
which included an organ voluntary by Miss 
Fannie Davis, hymn by the choir, invocation by 
Rev. Mr. Hill, Stonington, Scripture reading by 
Rev. N. T. Allen, Groton, hymn by the choir, 
prayer by Rev. E. Dewhurst, Voluntown, address 
by Dr. Hiscox, New York, address by Dr. Bixby, 
Providence, hymn by the choir, and an address 
by Rev. Dr. Piddock, Hartford. 

"A short service was held at the home of the 
deceased at 11.30 o'clock in the morning, after 
which the remains were taken to the church, 
where many, who were unable to be present at 
the services in the afternoon, availed themselves 
during the interval of the opportunity to look for 
the last time upon the face of their honored friend 
and pastor. 

" Fully half an hour before the time for the ser- 
vice to begin the church was well filled, and at 
2.30 Miss Davis played a voluntary on the organ, 
and the family of the deceased, preceded by the 
visiting pastors, marched from the house into the 
church, and occupied seats in front of the plat- 
form. On the platform were seated Rev. Dr, 



124 A MEMORIAL OF 

Hiscox, Rev. E. Dewhurst, Rev. Mr. Hill, Rev. 
Dr. Piddock, Rev. Dr. Bixby, and Rev. N. T. 
Allen. At 2.30, the service was begun by the 
choir singing-, ' Jesus, Lover of my Soul/ which 
was one of Dr. Palmer's favorite hymns. Then 
came the invocation by Rev. Mr. Hill, of the 
Congregational Church. 

"Rev. N. T. Allen, of Groton, then read ap- 
propriate Scriptures, and prayer was offered by 
Rev. E. Dewhurst, of Voluntown. ' O Thou, in 
whose Presence my Soul takes Delight,' was next 
tenderly and effectively rendered by the choir, 
following which was an address by Dr. Hiscox of 
New York. 

REV. DR. HISCOX' ADDRESS. 
" During the course of his address, Dr. Hiscox 
was so much overcome with a sense of grief, and 
his emotion at times was so great, that his voice 
trembled, and was scarcely audible. He said : 

I am well-nigh overwhelmed with a sense of personal be- 
reavement, and the solemnity which this occasion brings. 
Until the choir commenced singing the hymn they have just 
rendered, I did not know that I was expected to speak on 
this occasion. My brother said : i{ You can say something. ' ' 
Of course I can. I could say much more than the proprie- 
ties of this occasion would permit. My parents long years 
ago passed away from life ; I had brothers and sisters, but 
they too have long slept in silent dust ; and one still nearer 
and dearer, the centre of heart and home, has ceased from 
earth, and entered into light and life. I have sons still liv- 
ing, whom I love and cherish. But aside from that small 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 125 

circle, there is not a living man, whose death would be to 
me so sore a bereavement, as is the death of Albert G. Pal- 
mer. There are other men, both in and out of the ministry, 
with whom for years gone by I have met more frequently, 
and with whom in Christian work I have associated more 
intimately, but not one of whom I should miss so sadly. In 
passing back and forth through this town, though I could 
not always call and see him, yet when I could it was a great 
pleasure ; and even when I could not, his presence here was 
a sort of sympathetic fellowship, not to my fancy alone, but 
to my heart. I have other friends in Stonington, but Dr. 
Palmer was to me the centre of its attraction and its life. 

It is now almost half a century since we first met and 
became friends. We were scarcely more than boys then. 
We were very unlike, yet we had much in common, and 
were attracted to each other. Possibly our very contrarie- 
ties became a bond of union ; our acquaintance ripened into 
friendship, and our friendship nourished, if it did not form, 
a life-long fellowship of fraternal affection. I would love to 
give my estimate of his character and the work of his life, 
and dwell upon the many admirable qualities of his heart 
and mind, but it is impossible to do it here. His toils are 
over, but his works follow him. He had his trials and his 
heart-aches, though so grand a son of consolation to others 
in trouble. Oh, how vividly I recall the hour, when years 
and years ago, that beautiful and saintly girl, the wife of his 
youth, the mother of these two sons, lay in her coffin in the 
old church, and I, in answer to his earnest request, stood to 
preach at her funeral, with the sorrow on my heart I should 
have felt had she been my sister. I have always honored her 
who came afterward to take the vacant place, and who has 
been to those children a true mother, and to him, through 
all these many years, a true wife, the sharer of his joys and 
sorrows, helping to bear his burdens, and to smooth the 
rough places in the patli of life. I remember with what 
solicitude he long desired and hoped that one of these sons 



126 A ME3I0RIAL OF 

might follow him in the sacred work of the gospel ministry. 
His prayers on that behalf are still unanswered. Possibly it 
is now too late. God knows. 

I would not too much oppress your feelings, or torture 
your hearts by protracted words of grief. And yet nature 
rightly claims the tribute of our tears, and life moves ever to 
funereal strains. You have not forgotten the bitterness of 
that hour, when a tenderly loved child and sister, just emerg- 
ing into accomplished womanhood, faded from earth, and 
passed to the fadeless bliss of heaven. To-day reaches the 
climax of your grief, as this wife now widowed, mourns the 
beautiful staff on which she leaned, broken before her eyes. 
This daughter, who well nigh idolized her father, while their 
mutual attachment was almost like the affection of lovers, 
and these sons will miss more than they now know, the 
father they have so much loved and honored. The church 
is broken hearted, and the whole community is in mourning. 
There are not many such men to lose; husbands, fathers, 
citizens, and friends. But we have had him, and thank God 
for him. We cannot now be deprived of him, though his 
personal presence will be with us no more. But his memory 
will abide ; his life belongs to the world. His example, his 
influence, his good name, and his beneficent influence are 
the world's benediction, and the heritage of those that loved 
him. A heritage richer than gold, and more to be desired 
than much fine gold. A spotless name, an untarnished 
character, a noble life which the tongue of calumny has 
never touched ; a life and character above censure, above 
suspicion. These are the grandest conceptions of the 
human mind ; the grandest achievements possible to human 
endeavor. These all are yours, and the world's. To say 
nothing of sixty years of laborious and faithful seed-sowing 
of that Word which liveth and abideth forever, it is no 
small thing for a man to live almost eighty years in a world 
like this, and sixty years of that time in the active duties of 
the Christian ministry, in the midst of envyings, jealousies, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 127 

suspicions, and antipathies, exposed to temptations, miscon- 
ceptions, and detractions, and still maintain a reputation 
above reproach, and free from even the breath of scandal, 
as he has done. Thanks be unto God, who hath given him 
the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I spoke a little while ago of his, as being an evangelical 
ministry. It was most emphatically such. A ministry of 
the grace of God with salvation by faith, in our Lord Jesus 
Christ alone. The ministry of the apostles, and of the New 
Testament. From this he never swerved or turned aside. 
Read over his numerous sermons in manuscript, or those in 
print, and find it true. No man better appreciated the true 
mission of scholarship, or more honored the fruits of a rev- 
erent and sound criticism, than did he. He fully under- 
stood there was a legitimate work for an able and a critical 
scholarship to do, in exploring, interpreting, and expounding 
the sacred Scriptures. But the hypotheses, the theories, the 
guesses of pretentious critics, whether high or low, the 
assumptions of theology, whether new or old, he had no con- 
fidence in, and no patience with. 

But I must not detain you. He has gone from us, though 
with us still. He has passed beyond the mystic veil, which 
hides from mortal gaze the grandest realities of the universe. 
I miss him, but I shall soon meet him. We are not far apart, 
though I do not hear his voice, nor see his footprints longer 
on the sands of times. He has fought the good fight, and 
won the battle. He fell, but he conquered. We have a 
funeral, he has a coronation, and takes his seat among kings 
and priests unto God, with the radiant throng of blood- 
bought and blood- washed victors. We shall meet him there 
amidst the unfading glory. And when the father seeks his 
children, may no one of them be missing. When the pastor 
seeks his flock, may they all be there in bright array. May 
God bless and comfort the bereaved family, the stricken 
church, the sorrowing community. Good-bye, friend and 
brother. We part in the shadows of this evening time, but 



128 A MEMORIAL OF 

we shall meet not long hence, in the morning dawn, whose 
light shall know no shadows, and whose gladness shall know 
no grief! Till then — Good-bye. 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. BIXBY. 

It was ten o'clock this morning when I heard that the 
funeral service of Dr. Palmer was to take place to-day, and 
I felt that I must come immediately, so I hurried to the 
train. I did not expect to speak on this occasion when I 
came, but there are two or three reasons why I am glad to 
say a few words. 

I am glad to say a personal word, because I have known 
our departed brother for the past forty years. I loved him 
and esteemed him very highly ; few men more so, if any, in 
this world. I am glad also to represent Rhode Island here 
to-day, because he spent several of his most successful years 
of ministerial life in Rhode Island. He commenced his 
ministry there. It seemed fitting that I should represent, in 
a few words to-day, the churches of Rhode Island. It would 
not be right for me to speak at length, nor would it be right 
for me to say all I think and feel on this occasion. It is 
fully forty years since I first met Dr. Palmer. It was at a 
missionary meeting. I remember talking with him at that 
time about the great work of world-wide evangelization. I 
saw how broad were his views, and how warm was his heart 
concerning the great work of missions, and my heart was 
drawn out to him. After several years of missionary service 
in Burma, I met him again. He was acquainted with some 
of my personal friends, Rev. Justus Vinton and wife and 
others, who were associated with me in the field. We were 
instinctively drawn to each other, and held together the 
most delightful fellowship. He was a warm friend of the 
missionaries, and took a deep interest in the spread of the 
gospel m all lands. I saw the strength of his nature and the 
warmth of his affections. His life was consecrated to his 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 129 

Master, and to the cause of humanity. His whole life was 
a benediction to this world. 

The eloquent words that fell from his lips, and the burn- 
ing words that came from his pen will not soon be forgotten. 
His ideal thoughts, the poems which he wrote, are pure 
gems which the world will not let die. 

One thing has deeply impressed me as I have thought of 
this noble Christian life, and that is this : how profoundly 
Christianity may influence and mold a man's life. This 
community has been greatly favored ; it has had for almost 
fifty years a striking and beautiful example of the reality and 
power of the Christian religion in this man's life. 

Another thought that comes to me is this : how profound 
is the influence of a man's life in this world which has been 
molded by the Christian religion. How profound is the in- 
fluence of this man's life. 

We cannot conceive what that influence has been in this 
State over these churches, over these ministers of Con- 
necticut, and over the churches and ministers of Rhode 
Island, and I would like to say over the ministers and 
churches of the Baptist denomination in the United States. 

I feel confident that his influence for good has not been 
confined to our own denomination, but that other denomi- 
nations have shared in the good work he has done. All 
have profited by this most useful life. 

My last thought is this : how profound must be the joy of 
one who has walked with God for sixty years, and whose 
life has been molded by the spirit of Christ. How pro- 
found must be his joy when he enters within the veil to 
greet his Lord face to face. 

MR. PIDDOCK'S ADDRESS. 

There is in every man a natural longing for immortality, 

a desire to do something that shall live forever. The poet 

said he had written something that the world would not 

willingly let die, and the painter that he had painted some- 



130 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

thing that would last for eternity. Yet in the midst of 
all our doing, we have to remember that we are but dust, and 
that it is appointed unto all men once to die. 

But to our friend, death had no terrors, for he realized that 

It is not death to die, 

And leave this weary road, 
And with the fellowship on high, 

To be at home with God. 

Death to him only meant reunion with those whom he had 
loved and lost, and for whom his pure spirit often longed. 

But I desire at this time to pay a tribute of memory and 
say a word of love for a beloved counselor and friend. 

As a preacher, Dr. Palmer was a man of wonderful ana- 
lytical power. His sermons were eminently scriptural and 
always fresh and suggestive. One of the great secrets of his 
long pastorate is that he kept himself in sympathy with the 
progress of the age, and was interested in the latest dis- 
coveries of science and new views of truth. A great charac- 
teristic of his nature was fidelity to conviction, and his 
preaching had a simplicity and directness tint impressed all 
who heard him. He was utterly free from all pedantry or 
pretense. His preaching was also characterized by an 
earnest spirit of evangelism, and he regarded the preacher 
as an ambassador sent with a message to invite men to Jesus 
Christ. His theological platform was broad, and on it any 
Christian could find a place. He believed in the unction of 
the Holy Spirit, and all his sermons were the messages of a 
man whose heart was filled with love for others. My own 
friendship and association with him began in a series of re- 
vival services, and I know that he rejoiced more in the 
triumphs of the preaching of the gospel than in anything 
else. His prayers were models of simplicity and were in 
fact talks with God, and impressed those who heard them as 
real communion with Christ. In prayer meeting he was 
much at home, and by telling illustrations and apt scriptural 
quotations would prevent any meeting from being dull. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 131 

As a literary man, Dr. Palmer had fine taste and a true 
poetic nature. He was well acquainted with the great 
masters of English prose and verse, and his own poetry 
shows a purity of style and a felicity of expression rarely 
equalled. The church will not soon forget some of his 
translations of Latin hymns, his sonnets and poems of faith 
and love. 

As a minister, Dr. Palmer was much loved by his brother 
ministers. His genial and kind treatment of all with whom 
he came in contact, and his tender regard for the feelings of 
others, won for him a large place in the hearts of all. He 
had a deep interest in all the mission work of the State, and 
gave much thought and attention to questions of State 
evangelization. The German poet says: "Do the duty 
that lies nearest thee," and Dr. Palmer was especially in- 
terested in sustaining the weaker churches in the hill towns 
of Eastern Connecticut. The old church, the home of his 
boyhood, and the place where he was baptized on Pendleton 
Hill, was a place sacred to him, and was often on his lips 
and in his thought. For many years he has been a trustee of 
our State Convention, and ready and anxious for advancing 
the work. 

As a pastor, Dr. Palmer has had a remarkable record. 
For thirty-nine years he has served this church, and few of 
its members have ever known any other minister. Many of 
you he has joined in marriage, and has spoken words of 
comfort over the cold forms of your loved, ones, and told 
you of the resurrection and the life. The homes of this 
place will miss him, for he was ever welcome. No other 
voice will ever have such music as his, for he has indeed 
been a friend to you all. 

In his home life he was especially happy. He loved his 
home, and his wife and children were bound to him with the 
strongest ties. It is rare to find such love in a household as 
existed in his home. He rejoiced in the love of his house- 
hold, and they looked up to him with veneration and rev- 



132 A MEMORIAL OF 

erence. He was remarkably even in his disposition and 
temper and had an ideal home life. 

Dr. Palmer was a very manly man and detested shams of 
every sort. But he believed in true nobility of character, 
and as a citizen he was interested in education and in all 
good causes. 

We can hardly realize that he is gone and that we shall 
not greet each other again here in this world. But I console 
myself with the reflection that his memory is still with us a 
precious heritage, which we shall not let die. 

It may be said of him that 

The world bid him good-morning 
When he bid the world good-night, 

and this is true fame. 

By the loving hands of his brothers in the ministry, and 
followed by the tears not only of his family, but of the en- 
tire community, he will be laid at rest by the side of dear 
ones in yonder cemetery. We shall not see him walking 
these streets again. This building, which he so desired to 
see erected, and which is one of the monuments of his 
work in this place, will not receive him again. His voice, 
so earnest for truth is silent now. 

Soldier of Christ, well done, 
Rest from thy loved employ. 

Farewell, loved spirit, until the meeting when there shall 
be no separations, and where death can never come. We 
shall hope to meet in the eternal morning. 

Above the grandeur of the sunsets 

Which delight this earthly clime, 
And the brightest of the dawnings 

Breaking on the hills of time, 
Is the richness of the radiance 

Of the land beyond the sun, 
Where the noble have their country, 

When the work of life is done. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 133 

The interment took place immediately follow- 
ing the services at the church. A long proces- 
sion of carriages and people on foot marched to 
the rural cemetery, a little out of the village, 
where, in a beautiful granite mausoleum, a few 
years previously erected for him by his eldest 
son, Albert M. Palmer, his body was laid to rest, 
surrounded by his weeping family and the be- 
reaved community. The service at the grave 
was conducted by this writer, and consisted of 
brief remarks and a prayer. To that tomb the 
dust of the wife of his youth had already been 
removed, after reposing in the old village bury- 
ing ground for thirty-seven years. There they 
rest in silence and in peace till the archangel's 
trump and the voice of God shall call the sleep- 
ing dead to rise. 

A MEMORIAL SERVICE. 

On the evening of Sunday, July 5, 1891, a 
large audience filled the Baptist church edifice 
for a service in memory of the late pastor. It 
was a union service of citizens without distinc- 
tion of church or denomination, gathered to show 
their respect for, and appreciation of the good and 
noble man whom they delighted to honor. Pas- 
tors and members of the various churches were 
present and took part in the exercises. Rev. 
George H. Miner, of Mystic, presided on the oc- 
casion. Addresses were made by Dr. Miner, 
12 



134 A MEMORIAL OF 

Rev. J. C. Wilson and Rev. C. J. Hill, of the 
Congregational churches ; by Deacon E. D. 
Smith and Judge R. A. Wheeler. The exer- 
cises were deeply interesting throughout, appro- 
priate music was interspersed by the choir, the 
children, and the congregation. A deeply pa- 
thetic incident was related by the Rev. Mr. Hill. 
He said : "Just six months ago to-morrow morn- 
ing, Dr. Palmer came to my study to make ar- 
rangements for a special service in memory of 
Rev. Mr. Clift, a former pastor of the Congre- 
gational church here, and an old and cherished 
friend of his. After we had concluded the ar- 
rangements, he said : ' The next memorial ser- 
vice will be in my church.' I replied : T hope not 
for a good while yet, doctor.' He said : ' I don't 
know ; it will not be very long before you will 
have a memorial service in my church.' And so 
I suggested that we fulfill his anticipation ex- 
pressed six months ago, and have such a ser- 
vice here to-night." That suggestion, made six 
months before, seemed prophetic. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 135 



XVII. 
Dr. Palmer as I Knew Him. 

It only remains for me to give my estimate of 
his personality, and note his marked character- 
istics, as I knew him, during the half century of 
our acquaintance — a service which my memory 
supplies, and my heart dictates far better than 
my pen can inscribe. 

His Personal Appearance. — In personal appear- 
ance, if not specially striking because of any pe- 
culiarity, he was decidedly noticeable. Of some- 
thing more than medium height, well formed, 
rather spare in flesh than otherwise, with clear- 
cut, well-fashioned, and pleasing features, inclin- 
ing to the Roman rather than to the Grecian 
mold ; his eye keen and penetrating, yet mild 
and attractive in its glances ; his forehead broad 
and full ; hair black, and in his earlier years abun- 
dant, but growing thin and becoming silvery 
white in later life. His walk on the street was 
somewhat rapid, with a nervous movement, as 
if on some errand, or in the performance of 
some duty which he was intent on completing 
without needless delay. He moved with a slight 
inclination forward, and usually with his eyes on 



136 A MEMORIAL OF 

the ground, with a sedate expression of counte- 
nance, as if his meditations were occupied with 
some subject of serious thought, rather than with 
external scenes, or anything transpiring about 
him. Indeed, though keenly alive to the inter- 
ests of society, and well posted in current his- 
tory, yet he lived more in the realm of mental 
reflection than in that of physical action. His 
tout ensemble, especially in the pulpit, all aglow 
with deep feeling and earnest expression, pre- 
sented a fair type of the Puritan divine of two 
hundred years ago. In his earlier years he was 
a decidedly handsome young man, but with a 
thoughtful air, and an aspect of intellectual su- 
periority, but without a touch of apparent con- 
scious personal vanity. In later years a stranger 
would have pronounced him a fine looking gen- 
tleman, with a scholarly bearing and a benevo- 
lent expression of countenance ; with a large ad- 
mixture of the intellectual and the sentimental in 
his mental composition. . 

In the Family. His home was a most hospita- 
ble one, as multitudes can testify. And not only- 
personal friends, but strangers often found there 
a welcome. Not a few who had no claim upon 
its generous provision, shared there a refreshing 
meal, and received kindly words of cheer. In 
this hospitality his wife was a ready partner) and 
the children were partakers of the common feel- 
ing. Many unfortunate ones who fell in their 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 137 

way were helped over hard places by their kindly 
sympathy and timely aid. To those who had 
been privileged to be often in the home, it was 
most manifest that considerate affection ruled 
there. There was nothing of harsh severity on 
the part of the father ; nothing of petty irasci- 
bility on the part of the mother ; nothing of rude, 
unfilial disobedience on the part of the children. 
Of course, domestic life with them, as with all, 
had its lights and shadows. But as for mutual 
affection, without pretense, the respect due to 
parents, and a kindly paternal regard for chil- 
dren, it is seldom that so near an approach to an 
ideal home is to be found. Mrs. Palmer now 
states that, after forty-six years of married life, 
through all the trials and changes incident to a 
minister's position, she never saw her husband 
angry, though naturally of a quick and excitable 
temperament. She had seen him vexed, tried, 
disconcerted, and indignant ; but never really 
angry. The sons for many years have lived 
away from home, but always held their mother 
in affectionate regard, and for their father cher- 
ished unbroken respect and honor. Especially 
was the responsive love between the father and 
the remaining daughter as remarkable as it was 
sincere. She nearly idolized him ; and when he 
died, it seemed to her that well nigh all the light 
of earth and time was extinguished in the dark- 
ness of death and the grave. Nor must it be 



138 -4 MEMORIAL OF 

forgotten that the two eldest sons were children 
of another mother. But no distinction could be 
observed, either on the part of the new mother 
or of the children. Her motherly love and their 
filial affection alike recognized one family, and 
only one. The home, as to its social aspect, was 
equally a stranger to boisterous hilarity on the 
one hand, and oppressive solemnity on the other. 
It was in its ordinary tide and current a cheerful, 
sunny place, which attracted, but did not repel ; 
such as a Christian home should be, where cheer- 
ful thanksgiving to the Giver of all blessing was 
daily offered up in heart-felt praise. 

The parsonage offered a cordial welcome to 
any and all members of the church and congre- 
gation ; indeed, to a much larger extent than 
many pastors and their families might have 
thought expedient. But here all felt at liberty 
to come for comfort and for counsel, or to sue- 
gest or discuss plans for the church's interest, 
or methods of work for the advancement of its 
welfare. To a laree extent the church was one 
family, which found its centre and its council 
chamber in the parsonage. 

As a Companion. — As a companion he was 
genial, easy, and agreeable, and within narrow 
limits, free in conversation. But he was not a 
great talker, and not what would be called a 
conversationalist, and when in large companies 
said little, unless his opinion was sought. Then 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 139 

it was readily given, and always to the purpose. 
He thought more than he spoke. But in a small 
circle of personal friends he was free and unre- 
strained, and in the best sense companionable. 
There was nothing sombre or repellant in his 
manner, and he enjoyed a laugh as heartily, when 
occasion served, as any one. He was not an 
anecdotist nor a story-teller, and held in deserved 
contempt the too common custom, even among 
ministers, of relating stale jokes and funny 
stories, not a few of which are tainted with vul- 
garity, and some of which approach indecency, 
given simply for the purpose of producing mer- 
riment and raising a laueh. Such an ambition 
on the part of ministers of the gospel to him 
was painful and disgusting — and rightly so. His 
conversation was pure, whether in public or in 
private, and though he could tell a story or 
repeat a witticism, and join with others with his 
ringing laugh, yet no suggestion of anything in- 
consistent with the purest taste ever fell from his 
lips. His remarks in company were rather in 
detached sentences, which touched the salient 
points of subjects, than in continuous and sus- 
tained conversation, which discussed the whole 
question. On all matters of current history, 
governmental policy, the drift of religious 
thought, questions of biblical criticism, and the 
progress of evangelical truth, he had well-defined 
and intelligent opinions, ready on occasion to be 



140 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

expressed, and which commended themselves by 
their reasonableness to all who heard. 

In the Pulpit. — In the pulpit his deportment 
and bearing were serious and reverential. It 
was evident to a considerate observer that his 
thoughts were busy rather within than without ; 
rather with what he had to do and say to the 
people, than with the people themselves. There 
was none of that idle or curious gazing about, 
scanning the audience, which marks the pulpit 
manners of so many clergymen. His whole 
bearing, from the time he entered the pulpit till 
he left it, indicated that he was there for a serious 
purpose, to which he wished to keep his thoughts 
closely confined. And that feeling impressed his 
audience. He was no pulpit declaimer, no elo- 
cutionist, not even a pulpit orator. He was dis- 
charging functions superior to any of these. He 
was an ambassador of Christ, a preacher of the 
gospel of the blessed God. It is doubtful if, 
after rising to speak, he ever thought of the 
manner of his speaking. There seemed an utter 
absence of self-consciousness while he delivered 
his messages. The marked traits of his preach- 
ing, so far as manner was concerned, were his 
intense earnestness, his marked and manifest 
sincerity, his deep and abiding conviction as to 
the truths of the gospel which he preached, and 
the moral and spiritual needs of those to whom 
he preached. His voice was musical, sympa- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 141 

thetic, varied in its intonations, never monoto- 
nous. His gesticulation was unstudied, nervous,' 
and emphatic, to which his vocal inflections cor- 
responded. As with others, his freedom of utter- 
ance varied greatly at different times, under the 
influence of those complex physical, mental, and 
spiritual conditions with which the unction of the 
Spirit co-operates. His preparations for the 
pulpit were usually very thoroughly made, and 
for the greater part of his- life he used manuscript 
in the pulpit, though not closely confined to it, 
except in the treatment of special subjects. But 
in later years he found greater freedom in 
preaching, and his people found greater pleasure 
in hearing, by extemporaneous address. This he 
could well do, as a younger man, less completely 
fitted by large accumulations of knowledge, ex- 
perimental and spiritual preparations, could not 
do. His style of sermonizing was both textual 
and topical, and the character of his themes 
both doctrinal and experimental — especially the 
latter. He was a skillful anatomist of the human 
mind and heart under the influence of sin on the 
one hand, and of grace on the other. Few men 
could give so clear an analysis of the emotions 
of the soul, or so accurate a portraiture of its 
varying phases under the operation of the Spirit 
of God, as could he. Hence he was an able 
teacher to instruct in spiritual sciences, and a 
skillful physician to prescribe remedies for the 



142 A MEMORIAL OF 

disorders of the soul. He had learned by his 
own experience, as well as from the word and the 
Spirit. The Baptist pulpit of Connecticut has 
had no brighter ornament, and no abler preacher, 
within the half century which measured his minis- 
terial life, than Albert G. Palmer. 

In the Prayer Meeting. — The prayer meeting 
was his special delight, providing the spirit of 
worship was dominant. And few pastors had the 
ability to make that service so attractive and 
profitable as he could. His singing there was 
itself a benediction. He had a voice of marvelous 
sweetness, flexibility, and power. It was full, 
mellow, and musical, and very sympathetic. He 
was a natural singer, and the songs he sang in the 
prayer room were often as effective as the ser- 
mons he preached from the pulpit. The rich 
melody and tender pathos of his strains, especially 
in times of revival, were marked and often quite 
remarkable on a sympathetic and responsive 
audience. His voice maintained its best qualities 
very largely unto the end. He loved to sing, and 
others loved to listen to him. The only difficulty 
about it in the social meeting was, that he was too 
much left to perforin that important function of 
worship by himself. Since he did it so willingly 
and so well, others felt too little inclined to do 
their part of it. His selections of Scriptures and 
his comments on them were chiefly along the line 
of experimental godliness. It was in that service 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 143 

he came more immediately in contact with the 
spiritual life of the church, and touched and 
molded their Christian character. While it is 
largely true in all churches, it was particularly 
true under his ministry in all the churches which 
he had served, that the prayer-meeting attendants 
were the best developed Christians, the strongest, 
the most reliable, the most efficient, helpful, and 
spiritually minded of all the flock. Of that class 
was a large proportion of the prominent mem- 
bers, male and female, in the church to which he 
had so long ministered, and in the midst of which 
that ministry ended. 

Among his People. — In the midst of his people 
he was the true pastor ; the shepherd visiting his 
flock, sympathizing with, counselling, guiding, and 
feeding the sheep of the fold. He had no taste 
for promiscuous and gossipy pastoral visitation. 
Hours that well could be spared he preferred to 
spend in his study or in the midst of his family. 
But the sick, the afflicted, the poor, the neglected, 
found him an ever ready and sympathetic friend. 
Few pastors visit enough to satisfy a certain 
class of their members. And many pastors find 
general visitation irksome, and avoid it as far as 
possible. He sought to discharge his duty strictly, 
and to benefit all departments of his ministerial 
work. The negligent members received his 
special attention, and, if possible, were won back 
to Christ and to duty. His deeply and tenderly 



144 A MEMORIAL OF 

sympathetic nature made him a boon and a bless- 
ing to the bereaved, the sick, and the dying, and 
all in affliction. At funerals, his ministry was 
marked by a touching pathos which soothed, com- 
forted, and cheered the mourners. Delicate in 
his sensibilities as a woman, tender in his spirit as 
a child, the manliness of his nature made his sym- 
pathies more quick and strong for every object of 
grief and suffering. Whittier's verse on Sturge 
would well apply to him : 

Tender as a woman, manliness and meekness 

In him were so allied, 
That they who judged him by his strength or weakness 

Saw but a single side. 

He was called from far and near to attend 
funerals, so adapted and effective were his ser- 
vices on such occasions. Especially when he 
would sing some appropriate hymn in strains so 
sad and sweet as to melt the otherwise careless 
listeners to tears and carry consolation to mourn- 
ers when all other ministries failed. All classes 
respected and honored him. With the young he 
kept young to the last, and they loved while they 
reverenced him. Not only his own parish, but 
the entire community, the worldly as well as the 
godly, confided in and trusted him for his con- 
sistent and unaffected piety, his manly and truly 
Christian walk and life as a minister of the 
gospel. 

Amonp' his Brethren. — In his intercourse with 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 145 

his brethren in the ministry he was a genial com- 
panion, kind, courteous, and fraternal, free and 
friendly, never cool, reserved, or unapproachable. 
And yet he never laid aside a becoming dignity, 
nor, either in conversation or in deportment, was 
he ever known to transgress the proprieties of 
the ministerial profession by undignified words or 
acts. It must be confessed that clergymen some- 
times when "off duty," and in clerical circles, not 
only unbend in cheerful intercourse, but descend 
to a level which would be considered quite un- 
ministerial elsewhere. It was not in his nature 
to do this, and so no special watchfulness or re- 
straint was needful on his part to avoid it. He 
commanded the respect of his brethren at all 
times and on all occasions. In meetings of the 
various religious organizations, State conven- 
tions, associations, and ministers' meetings, in all 
of which he felt a deep interest, the meetings of 
which he usually attended, his presence was 
always welcome and his influence was always felt, 
and over all of which he was called from time to 
time to preside. He was not a speechmaker in 
the popular sense of that term, and usually shrank 
from the sound of his own voice in public assem- 
blies. He was in no sense a polemic, and avoided 
controversy. But in any discussion no one de- 
tected the strong or the weak points more 
readily than he. On such occasions of debate 
he would sit in silence, but in a thoughtful mood, 

13 



146 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

listening to and weighing all that was said until 
the whole matter was fairly before his mind, and 
then rise, and in a few well ordered and trans- 
parent sentences state the case as he saw it, and 
sit down. And others were slow to reply. 

He would not enter into debate, and would 
perhaps make no direct allusion to the previous 
presentation of the subject on the one side or the 
other, but touch and illuminate the very heart of 
the matter. And usually when he closed, others 
saw it as he did. He was not a debater, and 
never employed the weapons of the dialectician, 
but gave his conception of the matter in a straight- 
forward way, with manifest sincerity and a free- 
dom from prejudice which usually won the assent 
of his hearers. His voice was almost never heard 
in the great anniversary meetings of the denomi- 
nation. He was too modest to push himself into 
public notice, and since these large gatherings are 
made more the occasion of popular attraction and 
temporary effect than of calm discussion of grave 
questions of policy or fundamental principles in 
Christian work, men are for the most part selected 
to occupy the platform who can catch the popular 
fancy and captivate audiences seeking entertain- 
ment. A large class of wise, thoughtful, and able 
men are thus counted out from even appearing 
before representative audiences on great public 
occasions, by which means the denomination loses 
the benefit of much of the wisest and ablest coun- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, I). P. 147 

sel accessible for the direction and management 
of their great benevolent organizations, unless, as 
in some cases, and to a limited extent, such men 
are induced to address the public through the 
press, as to a limited extent they do. Dr. Palmer 
sparingly availed himself of this method of making 
public his opinions, and not half so often as his 
friends desired that he should. He disliked the 
physical labor of writing, and still more disliked 
to appear in any sense in controversy. But when 
he wrote it was always because he had something 
to say, and not because he wished to appear 
before the public. And what he wrote was always 
to the point, in defense of truth as he understood 
it, always in a courteous and Christian spirit, and 
always worthy of a candid and serious considera- 
tion. And yet there is a considerable number 
of his productions in print, and many more in 
manuscript, equally worthy of public notice. 

In his Study. — He was not a book-worm, 
though fond of books, of the real value of which 
he was an excellent judge. His library, though 
not large, contained material of the first quality, 
of which he had made the best possible use. He 
used books not to do his thinking for him but to 
compare his thinking with them. He went about 
any matter of study which he had on hand, with 
earnestness, intent to o-o over it and through it 
with as much thoroughness as possible. No 
superficial examination satisfied him, but if in any 



148 A MEMORIAL OF 

case of special moment, he would give the sub- 
ject as exhaustive an investigation as the circum- 
stances permitted and the facilities at his disposal 
allowed. It scarcely need be said that his study 
was a place of prayer, as well as of mental 
activity. There he held communion with God, 
as well as with his own thoughts and the thoughts 
of others, through the medium of the printed 
page. So far as his preparations for the pulpit 
were concerned, the Bible was his treasury of 
truth. Science, history, art, and current life 
furnished illustrations, but the sacred Scriptures 
were his authority, as he could best understand 
them with all the helps at his command. The 
deductions of science and the theories of scholar- 
ship he did not utterly discard, but took them for 
what he deemed them worth — and of their real 
value he was a good judge. B.ut he considered 
the Scriptures their own best interpreters. What- 
ever doubts or questions arose in private investi- 
gations, in the pulpit he preached " Christ Cruci- 
fied." His purpose was not to perplex and 
unsettle the faith of the people with questions 
which could not be answered, but to present to 
them the things which were settled and sure. 
His aim was to lead unsaved men to the Lamb 
of God, as their only hope, and to edify and 
build up the saints in faith and righteousness. 
To this end his private study tended and bent 
its aim. He was a student by nature and a 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 149 

scholar by practice, and though he made no pre- 
tensions to accomplishment in the higher ranges 
of biblical criticism, yet he was an able theologian 
and a sound expositor of the word of God, as 
well as an able preacher of its sacred truths. 

As a Writer. — He possessed a fine literary 
taste. Mention has already been made of his 
poetic temperament, and of his poetic produc- 
tions. Though such contrarieties are by no 
means unknown, yet it is not common for one so 
much at home by nature and culture in the realm 
of fancy, and familiar with the literature of the 
imagination, to be master of the profounder ques- 
tions of ethics and theology, and competent to 
discuss with discretion and ability the abstruse 
subjects of social and civil economies. The fact 
was, that he possessed a mental penetration 
which went to the core of a subject to which he 
gave himself, together with ability to hold him- 
self to its investigation until he understood, at 
least its main features and bearings, if not all its 
minuter details. His writings appended to this 
Memoir will illustrate and verify what has been 
here said. He used language to express his 
thoughts, which it did in a clear, concise manner, 
and in good literary style, but never with a mani- 
fest attempt to decorate either his subject or his 
composition with the figures of speech by the 
skill of the rhetorician. 

For a year during his pastorate in Wakefield, 



150 -4 MEMORIAL OF 

he was the virtual editor of the " South County 
Journal," a local paper, and managed it with skill 
and ability. During a course of years he wrote 
anonymously a series of "studies" for the 
" Christian Secretary," the denominational paper 
of Connecticut, extending to about one hundred 
articles, all of which were studiously considered, 
and carefully prepared. They were homiletical, 
exegetical, expository, and theological, and well 
deserved republication in a more permanent form. 
But, unfortunately, the taste of the present age is 
not inclined to substantial religious reading. 
During a somewhat heated newspaper discussion 
respecting the "proper method in missions," 
which occupied the attention of our denomina- 
tion some forty years ago, he wrote and pub- 
lished in the "Secretary" a series of ten articles 
on that subject, which commanded wide attention, 
and though some of his views differed quite 
widely from those of many of the denominational 
leaders at the time, yet the drift of thought and 
practical policy in missions has been moving 
more and more toward his position on that ques- 
tion. Various lectures in prose and verse de- 
livered before literary and other associations, and 
often repeated, are preserved among his papers. 
Before the Public. — To the great outside public 
he was much less known than he deserved to be. 
His modesty of spirit, and his retiring habits of 
life, made his personal public a narrow, but an 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, 1). D. 151 

appreciative one. In matters of denominational 
interest, religious and educational, he was deeply 
concerned, and in them all his counsels and en- 
deavors were highly valued and influential, par- 
ticularly so within his own State. As judged by 
the standard of popular notoriety, his great sin 
was diffidence, retirement, and self-depreciation. 
He held in just contempt the spirit of brazen self- 
assertion which, without merit, pushes itself into 
notice, courting a cheap newspaper fame as sub- 
stantial glory. But he valued the approval of 
thoughtful and considerate minds, and greatly 
and rightly prized the commendation of those 
who could appreciate real merit, and who judged 
righteous judgment. Some men, at times, in 
appearing before the public on special occasions 
achieve brilliant success, at other times a con- 
spicuous failure ; more frequently a respectable 
common-place. Dr. Palmer never attempted a 
brilliant success : he had a nobler aim. He never 
met with a conspicuous failure. He was always 
listened to with marked respect for his manifest 
ability in the treatment of any subject, and his 
manifest sincerity of purpose in the discussion, 
and for the dignity of his bearing before an 
audience. His sermons always commanded 
thoughtful attention, and, at times, they made the 
most profound impression on his hearers. The 
public honored him as a public man and a citizen 
above reproach, who sought to advance the public 



152 A MEMORIAL OF 

welfare by all legitimate means ; whose opinion 
and whose influence weighed on all public ques- 
tions in the community where he lived. The 
profound respect in which he was held as a min- 
ister of the gospel, gave great weight to his opin- 
ions on any matter touching the temporalities of 
society in which he might be interested. 

A Man of the People. — His sympathies were 
always with the common people. It was the 
manhood of a man which he respected, not the 
clothes he wore, the house in which he lived, or 
the wealth he possessed, The workers and 
wage-earners, the bone and sinew of society, 
commanded both his respect and his sympathy. 
His lecture on "The Dignity of Labor," deliv- 
ered before an association of mechanics during 
his first pastorate at Stonington, and several 
times repeated by request before other bodies, 
was worthy of the commendations it received, 
and showed his sympathy with the working 
masses of society. He sought their improve- 
ment, their elevation, the comforts of their 
homes, and the education of their children. The 
" classes " respected him, the "masses" loved 
him, and without distinction of race, color, con- 
dition, or age, passed him on the street with 
tokens of regard, or in an emergency applied to 
him for counsel, comfort, or aid. He was par- 
ticularly interested in public schools, and the 
education of the children. It is stated that on a 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 153 

certain occasion, when it was proposed to build a 
new schoolhouse, with enlarged and improved 
facilities at considerable expense, the means to 
be raised by taxation, the movement was strongly 
opposed by a certain wealthy man, who had no 
children to educate, but who would be heavily 
taxed for the new house. Dr. Palmer vigorously 
advocated the movement, and the project was 
carried through. This wealthy gentleman was 
an admirer of the pastor, though a member of 
another church, and it was known he had in his 
will made a legacy of five thousand dollars in his 
favor. But in a fit of vexation that he had been 
opposed on the school question, he cancelled the 
legacy, declaring that if Dr. Palmer preferred to 
take sides with the youth and the negroes, he 
could go without his gift. This incident I believe 
occurred as stated, though he never mentioned it 
to me. And so far, as I have reason to believe, 
he never regretted the advocacy of the welfare 
of the people, though at such a cost. 

The Spiritual Universe Realized. — Though 
alive to and in vital contact with the moving, 
acting, living present, few men seemed so com- 
pletely to realize and live in such sensible fellow- 
ship with the unseen spiritual and supernatural 
realities of the universe as did he. The friends 
who had lived, and loved, and departed, though 
'Tost to sight," were not simply "to memory 
dear." To his spiritual apprehension they were 



154 A MEMORIAL OF 

with him still. Spirits and angels, as messengers 
and ministers of grace, were about him, though 
not visible, yet as real as the forms of living men 
in the midst of whom he moved. What to many 
of us is a suggestion, a hypothesis, a wish, to 
him was a reality. To him there were two worlds 
about us in which we live and of which we con- 
stitute a part : the material, the visible, the tan- 
gible, apprehended by physical sense ; and the 
immaterial, the invisible, and the intangible, ap- 
prehended by faith as a spiritual sense. And 
the latter was the larger, the grander, the more 
important of the two. He was not wholly pecu- 
liar in all this, for multitudes of others hold sub- 
stantially the same views. But with him these 
questions had passed the sphere of doubt, or of 
inquiry, and became settled and controlling con- 
victions. Some who failed to understand him, 
thought him, almost if not quite, a Spiritualist. 
But with Spiritualism, as popularly understood, 
he had no sympathy, and talked and even 
preached against it as a popular and most per- 
nicious delusion. His spiritualism was of another 
kind, a part of the constitution of the universe, 
sanctioned by the Scriptures, ultimating in the 
supreme ministry of the Holy Spirit, and clearly 
apprehended only by those who are in the best 
and broadest sense spiritually minded. It was 
no hallucination, no mental unbalance of his. No 
man was more in touch and sympathy with the 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, I). D. 155 

actual, practical, moving realities of the life that 
now is. It was the addition of his broader sym- 
pathies open to the grander universe of which the 
senses take no note, all of which is lost to the 
great mass of humanity. 

Occasions of Spiritual Illumination. — Every 
public speaker and, peculiarly, every Christian 
minister knows by his own experience how much 
easier it is to speak at some times than at others. 
This is perhaps more manifest when called on at 
special and unusual occasions, and perhaps with- 
out much previous notice, and with little or no 
opportunity for adjusting thought, or arranging 
language adapted to the subject. There are 
times when the speaker is "shut up"; all is 
dark, dry, and irresponsive, and he can say little, 
and that not to the purpose ; at least in his own 
estimation. There are other times when thoughts 
flow like the out-gushings of a fountain. Words 
come without an effort, and the right words. 
The voice is under perfect control, adapted to 
the place and the occasion, is sympathetic and 
obedient. Ideas are as free as the air, and lan- 
guage as clear as the light. We are too little 
familiar with the subtle activities of the mind, 
and the mysteries of psychological science to be 
able to comprehend, much less to explain, these 
and similar mental and emotional phenomena. 

Dr. Palmer had some striking experiences of 
this kind, to which he was accustomed to refer 



156 A MEMORIAL OF 

with peculiar interest in conversation with his 
personal friends. One of the most marked of 
these was on the occasion of the funeral of 
Rev. Mr. Dickinson, at Somerville, Mass. Mr. 
Dickinson was, in a sense, " his son in the gos- 
pel," greatly beloved by him. He was a young 
man of devout and lovely spirit, of fine ability, 
and greatly useful in the gospel. He died, still 
young, after a brief illness. Dr. Palmer was 
sent for to make the address at his funeral. The 
house was crowded with a stricken congregation 
and an afflicted community. He said he found 
it impossible to fix his mind on any leading 
thought, or any train of reflection suited to the 
occasion. Everything was dark and forbidding, 
and he felt that his coming to the occasion must 
be a failure. But while they were singing the 
last hymn before the address, this Scripture 
flashed into his mind with a flood of light : " And 
Enoch walked with God : and was not ; for God 
took him." For forty minutes he held the audi- 
ence spellbound with a tide of eloquence born of 
a spiritual unction, which cheered, comforted, 
subdued, and elevated the hearers, justifying the 
ways of God in all his trying dispensations. It 
was an inspiration, not a preparation. Of course 
his mind and heart were full of truth and facts, 
and the Spirit of God gave him utterance. 
Clergymen from Boston and from the suburbs 
came to him and expressed the pleasure and per- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 157 

sonal profit with which they had listened to him 
in the very strongest language. No one was 
more surprised at the result than himself, or less 
able to explain it. Other similar occasions, 
scarcely less marked, occurred in his ministry. 

A True Patriot. — He was a sincere patriot ; a 
true lover of his country. He honestly believed 
it the best country on the face of the earth. 
And, moreover, he believed there was a divine 
purpose in its history and in its future. He had 
no desire to see foreign lands. His eldest son 
says that his father would sometimes become im- 
patient with him when, after a visit to Europe, he 
would endeavor to interest him in a narration of 
some of the remarkable things he had witnessed 
in other countries. He was restless if asked to 
believe that any other country could possess su- 
perior attractions to this. His sympathies with 
the ignorant and poor from other lands who came 
here were broad and deep. But he repelled 
with just indignation the intrusion of foreigners 
into our social and political system, with the in- 
tention of destroying or transforming our insti- 
tutions with their anarchy and irreligion. He 
lamented, as many of us do, the degeneracy of 
the times in this regard ; the introduction into our 
social and political life of hostile and corrupting 
influences from abroad, which violates the sanc- 
tity of the Sabbath, the purity of the franchise, 
and the integrity of the public school. And if 

14 



158 A MEMORIAL OF 

not more censurable, yet more shameful, if pos- 
sible, is the fact that a corrupt and mercenary 
party spirit in politics panders to and courts 
these base elements in society, because through 
the ballot box they are potent factors of personal 
aggrandizement in the hands of unprincipled 
demagogues. Thus our national honor becomes 
tarnished ; public office a matter of bargain and 
sale ; all the springs of social and civil life poi- 
soned ; municipal offices are filled by strangers 
who rule over us, actuated by a groveling am- 
bition, but otherwise without interest in or care 
for our political or religious institutions. All 
this he saw and lamented, as we do ; but without 
the power to apply a remedy. This amor pat? ice 
he puts on record in one of his longest poems, 
entitled " My country." 

I sing my country, land that gave me birth ; 

The brightest spot beneath the sun to me ; 
Nor me alone, but so to all the earth. 

Emerging from the night of tyranny ; 
Like eastern Magi gazing from afar, 
Westward, on Juda's Messianic star. 

His son writes me as follows : " I never knew 
a man who took a deeper interest in public 
affairs, or who watched them more intelligently 
than my father. While he was not a loud-talking 
abolitionist, he was an abolitionist from the 
earliest. I think his first vote was cast for Gerrit 
Smith for president. After the war broke out he 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 159 

fought (spiritually) in every battle, he sang every 
Union song, and he rebuked copperheadism and 
half-hearted Unionism on every occasion. He 
was devoted to his country with all his heart. To 
him there was no land like America. Two or 
three times I offered to send or take him abroad, 
but he declined, saying, that outside of America 
there was nothing he cared to see except Pales- 
tine, and he was too old to make a journey 
thither." His love of country has already been 
referred to. Another extract from his poem, 
written just after the close of the civil war, shows 
something of the fire of his patriotic ardor : 

I sing my country 'mid the clang of arms, 
Of rattling musketry and cannons' roar, 

When horrid war surcharges with its storms, 
The nervous atmosphere, from shore to shore. 

And trembling hosts list to the whispering wire, 

As if a nation were about to expire. 

In such an hour, my country's God, to thee 
I raise my heart ; do thou attune my lyre 

To strains of loyal song and melody, 

Mingled with faith and hope's celestial fire. 

Prophetic of the brightening future, when 

The heavens of peace shall shine on us again. 

Questions- of Moral Reforin. — With all ques- 
tions of moral reform and religious progress 
which agitated his age and generation, he was in 
the truest and deepest sympathy. To them he 
gave his prayers, his advocacy, and so far as he 



160 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

could, his co-operation. He was not an ex- 
tremist. In feeling, conviction, and principle he 
was profoundly a radical ; in expression and 
methods of work he was a conservative. With 
his temperament, convictions, and poise of mind, 
he could by this means accomplish the most. He 
did not lack moral courage for any fight against 
wrong, but every man has, and must have, his 
own method of doing his own work. No man can 
work well in the harness of another. The gigan- 
tic iniquity of slavery he hated with the sincere 
detestation of a New England philanthropist and 
Christian. He witnessed the great, dark, and 
bloody drama of its insolent assumption, its armed 
assaults, and its annihilation. His eloquent and 
touching sermon on the death of President 
Lincoln was a strong arraignment of the tyranny 
of oppression. Also his "In Memoriam " on 
Lloyd Garrison. Of the equally gigantic evil of 
intemperance he stood well convinced, while he 
deplored its disastrous effects. An evil which 
stands somewhat differently related to the nation's 
life, but is more widely disastrous to the country 
in its effects on domestic, social, commercial, and 
financial welfare than slavery ever was, or in the 
nature of the case, ever could be. He saw the 
enormity of this curse of humanity, and did what 
he could to stay the oncoming tide of desolation. 
It is but little that any one man can do in fighting 
against such monster evils, where the depraved 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 161 

and overmastering appetites of men strike hands 
in fellowship with the lustful greed for gain of 
those engaged in the unholy traffic, and care 
more for the profits of the iniquity than for the 
homes, bodies, and souls of their victims. For 
prison reform, for the improvement of homes for 
the poor, for the elevation of the oppressed work- 
ing classes and wage-earners generally, for the 
suppression of Sabbath breaking, gambling, 
licentiousness, and all forms of social and domes- 
tic evil, he had a word of cheer and a helping 
hand. For the more distinctively religious work 
of missions he was a warm and effective advocate 
and helper. The period of his active life spanned 
the two-thirds of a century of the history of modern 
missions. And his heart yearned for the Pagan 
world to be brought to the knowledge of salva- 
tion through Christ Jesus. 

This brief and altogether imperfect portraiture 
of a marked, a notable, and a noble personality, 
may here terminate. True friendship does not 
deal in extravagant and fulsome eulogy. The 
world is slow to recognize its benefactors, and 
even the churches only half appreciate the bless- 
ing, divinely given, of able, faithful, and godly 
pastors. But their record is on high. Nor do 
they cease to live when the funeral services are 
ended, and the final benediction dies away at the 
mouth of the sepulchre and is lost in the silent 
air. The lives they have lived, the characters 



162 A MEMORIAL OF 

they have formed, the spirit they have exercised, 
possess a subtle vitality which penetrates the 
fabric of society, and helps to form all that is 
purest and best in the great world in which they 
lived — the great world which will soon forget 
them, but which will never lose the influence 
they have exerted. True, no light save that 
which comes from beyond the stars can dissipate 
the shadows that fall on hearts and homes be- 
reaved. And to the spirit that hungers for the 
fellowship and sympathy of a lifetime, no voice 
answers from the mystic realm, no echo comes 
back to its cry of loneliness, from the great 
mystery beyond. And we must wait. Wait a 
little while. Wait till the morning breaks and 
the shadows flee away. Then the fairer day will 
dawn that knows no shadows, and the life that 
knows no tears. And we do follow after, not 
sadly; nor shall the hour of victory and of 
meeting be unwelcome, when the checkered 
and the changeful present shall be past, and 
peace and joy immortal shall be the heritage of 
the pure in heart. 

When on my day of life the night is falling, 
And, in the winds from unsunned spaces blown, 

I hear far voices out -of darkness calling 
My feet to paths unknown. 

Thou, who hast made my home of life so pleasant, 
Leave not its tenant when its walls decay, 

O Love divine, O Helper ever present, 
Be thou my strength and stay ! 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, B.J?. 163 

Be near me when all else is from me drifting, 

Earth, sky, home's pictures, days of shade and shine, 

And kindly faces to my own uplifting 
The love which answers mine. 

I have but thee, O Father ! Let thy Spirit 
Be with me then to comfort and uphold ; 

No gate of pearl, no branch of palm, I merit, 
Nor street of shining gold. 

Suffice it if — my good and ill unreckoned, 

And both forgiven through thy abounding grace — 

I find myself by hands familiar beckoned 
Unto my fitting place : 

Some humble door among thy many mansions, 

Some sheltering shade where sin and striving cease 

And flows forever through heaven's green expansions, 
The river of thy peace. 

There, from the music round about me stealing, 
I fain would learn the new and holy song, 

And find, at last, beneath thy trees of healing, 
The life for which I long. 

John Greenleaf Whittier. 



SPECIAL DISCOURSES, 
SERMONS, 

A LECTURE, 

AN EXEGESIS. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 167 

XVIII. 

SPECIAL DISCOURSES. 



A DISCOURSE 
Delivered by Dr. Palmer, at the one hundredth 
anniversary of the organization of the First Bap- 
tist Church, in North Stonington, Connecticut, 
September 20, 1843. With an appendix. Pub- 
lished by request. 

Deut. 31 : 12, 13; "Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, 
and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may 
learn and fear the Lord your God ; and that their children which have not known 
anything, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God." 

"The annals of an oppressed and struggling church," 
says a distinguished historian, " are far more likely to afford 
events of powerful interest, than those of a dominant 
hierarchy ; for it is in seasons of distress and suffering, of 
privation, contumely, and persecution, that the loftier pas- 
sions of our nature are elicited." It is equally true that in 
circumstances like these, the strength, dignity, and glory of 
the Christian character is most fully developed, and the 
purity of a true religion most clearly exhibited. Perhaps 
the world has not witnessed a brighter illustration of these 
remarks than the history of the trials, conflicts, and suffer- 
ings of our own denomination furnishes, and especially the 
detailed history of many of our individual churches. 

From the slight view we have been able to take of this 
field, we are convinced that it is rich in all that variety of 
moral incident and religious association which one might 
desire as an inspiration to his own feelings, as well as to in- 
vest its history with interest and importance. 



168 A MEMORIAL OF 

The historical incidents of many of our older churches, 
are few and scattered ; a single record of their organization, 
with a few rays of traditionary light, is all that has come 
down to us from this most interesting period of their exist- 
ence. Hence, little comparatively can be known of the 
particular circumstances which gave them birth ; of the local 
influences which called them into being ; of the trials, su£- 
ferings, conflicts through which they were called to pass. 
One thing, however, is certain, that if the early movements 
of our denomination bear but an ordinary relation to those 
which are more recent ; if, as is usually the case, persecution 
and suffering increase in proportion as we go back to the 
rise of a sect; then, in the circumstances of our incipient 
organization, there must have been trials and privations of 
which we can form but indistinct conceptions. 

A distinct and general view of these times, based, however, 
upon correct data respecting the character of affairs in the 
church, is all that can be obtained. Yet even this, limited 
as it may seem, will throw much light upon the subject ; 
and if we can succeed in collecting these scattered rays, 
they may serve as a taper, at least, to guide us along the 
often obscure path of our early history. 

The only record that can be found of the constitution of 
this church is as follows : " 1743, the First Baptist Church in 
Stonington was constituted ; Mr. Wait Palmer was ordained 
their watchman the same year." But of the names and 
numbers of its original members, of the churches and min- 
isters who composed the counsel of recognition, we have 
from the records no information. Indeed, there is an entire 
blank from 1743 to 1762, embracing a period of nineteen 
years, about which little can be known, save what can be 
gleaned from tradition and collateral history. It must be 
borne in mind, however, that the date which marks the rise 
of this church carries us far back into the history of our 
denomination in this country. Though from the banishment 
of Williams Baptist sentiments had prevailed in Rhode 



ALBERT GALLATItf PALMER, D. D. 169 

Island, and were gradually making progress in other sections 
of the country, yet, " about this time," says Backus, " there 
appears to have been but ten churches in Massachusetts, 
none in New Hampshire, none in Vermont, and but one in 
Connecticut." The First Baptist Church in Groton was 
constituted as early as 1705 ; of the immediate circumstances 
of its origin we have no definite information. 

It is, however, worthy of record, that the date of its or- 
ganization is the same that marked a general combination 
on the part of the dominant ministry for an increase of 
power over the churches. 

Not succeeding in Massachusetts, the experiment was 
made in Connecticut with more success. On the death of 
the third Governor Winthrop, in 1707, they succeeded in 
electing as governor a clergyman favorable to the scheme. 
This issued in the construction and establishment of a form 
of discipline, famous in history as the Saybrook Platfoi-m. 
Whether the dissatisfaction arising from this usurpation of 
power by the ministry in ■ many sections of the State, had 
anything to do with the origin of the church in Groton, we 
have not been able to determine. 

Still, it is worthy of notice, as illustrating the providence 
of God, that, at the very time the ministry was seeking to 
bring to their aid the arm of civil power in the government 
of the church, God, upon the very soil where this unholy 
alliance was being consummated, was raising up for himself a 
people, before whose influence this Babel of iniquity should 
fall to rise no more. 

It is, however, to be inferred, that the increase of this 

church at first was but slow and gradual. During the space 

of twenty years it appears to have called into existence no 

kindred organization ; this is, indeed, somewhat surprising ; 

but the cause we think is to be found chiefly in the peculiar 

character of the times. The year 1705 places us near to the 

early settlement of the country ; consequently, it may be 

supposed that the adjoining towns and neighborhoods were 
15 



170 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

but thinly inhabited, and hence the facilities for a wide and 
rapid diffusion of truth, were but comparatively few. In 
addition to this, the educational prejudices of the people 
were everywhere hostile to the distinguishing sentiments of 
the Baptists. 

The ministry of the prevailing order had succeeded in 
blending the ecclesiastical and civil administrations ; the 
Church had sought and formed an alliance with the State, 
and this unnatural, unholy union, as it always has, pro- 
duced the most unnatural and unholy effects. Intoleration, 
persecution, fines, imprisonments, whippings, banishments, 
and death ; these are among the dark crimes which grow 
immediately out of this illegitimate connection. 

Whether the church in Groton felt severely the grasp of 
this power in the way of direct persecution, we are not able 
to say. But it is evident, that a body so feeble as this 
church must have been at that time, could not fail to have 
been retarded in its progress by an opposition so powerful 
as that of the Church and State united. 

An age that could be induced to sacrifice the great princi- 
ples of religious freedom, to yield the high prerogative of 
ecclesiastical administration to a power, from whose 
tyranny and cruelty it had but just escaped, of all others 
would be most unfavorable to those principles of church 
policy which have ever distinguished the Baptist denomina- 
tion. Men who can be led away by an ambitious, designing 
priesthood ; men who will not take the trouble, nor feel the 
responsibility of thinking for themselves, are the very last 
men to renounce popular error, or to embrace unpopular 
truth ; in other words, the very last men to become Baptists. 
And that this was the character of the age which we are con- 
templating, the history of both Church and State, at that 
period, plainly indicates. 

In not a few instances, however, the measure was received 
with marked disapprobation ; and in some cases, met with 
open and decided resistance. Hence originated a species of 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 171 

dissent, or separatism, from the established order. Separate 
churches sprung up in various parts of the country, retaining 
all the characteristics of the old organization, yet resisting, 
the encroachments of. the ministry, repudiating the union of 
the Church and State, and refusing the aid of the civil power 
in the administration of discipline. As a consequence, there 
arose a kind of sympathy between the Baptists and these 
Separatists, which in some cases resulted in a species of union 
or mixed communion ; a state of things most unfavorable to 
our ecclesiastical purity, and hostile to the advancement of 
truth. And it is not surprising that the influence of Baptist 
churches consenting to this injudicious connection was not 
more widely felt, and their distinguishing sentiments no more 
generally embraced. 

In addition to this, the general tone of religious feeling in 
the prevailing church was exceedingly low ; a loose and dark 
theology everywhere prevailed ; the vital doctrines of the 
gospel were unbelieved, unpreached, and to a great extent, 
unknown. Christianity existed but in name and form; and 
the church, so far from being the congregation of the 
righteous, came emphatically to be the congregation of the 
unrighteous, the repository of error, and the highway to 
death. 

An impure morality was substituted for experimental piety ; 
obedience to the ministry and the magistracy took the place, 
at least in matters of religious discipline, of obedience to 
God. Hence a fractious, disputatious spirit, prevailed. Men 
were occupied, not in searching for truth, but in settling 
questions of civil and ecclesiastical policy ; in enforcing and 
resisting an authority which, on the one hand, was regarded 
as the safeguard of the church, but, on the other, as illegiti- 
mate, profane, anti-Christian. The public mind was hence 
kept in a state of continued excitability, and the warlike 
passions of the heart were frequently called out in fierce, un- 
holy collision. Still this state of things, unhappy as it was, 
was not altogether unserviceable in the cause of truth. Amid 



172 A MEMORIAL OF 

these commotions, men began to be enlightened respecting 
the true character of Christ's kingdom. In resisting what 
they were forced to regard as a usurpation of authority by 
the ministry, they fled to the Scriptures and studied the con- 
stitution of the church as therein revealed, and were thence, 
by a process not very difficult to understand, frequently led 
the entire length of truth, touching the great question, not 
only of gospel order, but also of gospel ordinances. Hence, 
in immediate connection with this state of things, Baptist 
sentiments were found rapidly spreading, especially in those 
sections where separatism prevailed ; so much so, that at one 
time,' as Backus states, it seemed that all these churches 
would become Baptists. The church, in her eagerness to 
bind men to her traditions, had compelled them to adopt the 
Bible as their only rule of faith and practice, and in so doing 
cut the cords of ignorance and superstition by which she 
might otherwise doubtless have held them longer in her 
allegiance. But so had God ordained. The time had come 
when a purer spirit was to go forth upon the earth in the 
name of Christianity ; when the inward life of the church 
was to be rekindled and her ordinances in their primitive 
purity restored. For when we once admit that God has 
spoken to us in his word, and that from its decisions there 
can be no appeal, conscience will bind the Christian to all 
its requirements, whether they regard the internal or external 
life, the inner sanctuary of the church or its outward visible 
forms and ordinances. A pure Christianity within always 
secures a pure Christianity without, so far as the understand- 
ing is enlightened as to its requirements. 

Hence, it is an interesting historical fact, that the more 
general rise of Baptist sentiments in Connecticut was simul- 
taneous with that glorious revival with which many sections 
of the State were visited in the years 1741, 2 and 3. It is of 
this revival that Backus says : " The great change that was 
then wrought in many minds, was the evident cause of the 
rapid spread of Baptist principles in our land. The subjects 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 173 

of that work," he continues, "embraces two ideas which 
produced this effect. The first was, that saving faith is 
necessary to give any soul a true right to communion in the 
church of God ; the second was, that there is no warrant for 
a half-way covenant therein ; and as infants are generally in 
a state of nature when they are said to be brought into cove- 
nant, infant baptism expires before these principles." So 
true is it, as a general thing, that the internal and external 
purity of the church, rise and fall together. Thus the moment 
men began to apprehend the great truth that living faith in 
Christ was indispensable to admission into his church, 
immediately, by a necessary inference they advanced another 
step, namely, that living faith in Christ was an equally 
indispensable pre-requisite to baptism ; and having gone thus 
far, the more discerning and conscientious were constrained 
to go still further, arid renounce infant baptism. For if faith 
in Christ be the first step toward membership in the visible 
church, and baptism the second, then evidently, infants are 
disqualified for the second, because incapable of the first. 
It is not surprising that when men began to reason thus, 
"infant baptism began to decline." So true is it, that 
reason, under the control of a sanctified heart, always extri- 
cates us from the labyrinths of error, and guides us along the 
plain path of scriptural truth. 

It was amid circumstances and influences like these, that 
this church seems to have had its origin. It was called into 
life, not by party spirit, not by sectarian zeal, but under the 
genial influence of a glorious revival of religion ; and the 
great principles of truth which it then embraced, and which 
from that time it has steadfastly maintained, were elicited 
under the same benign influence. 

During this year, 1743, Baptist sentiments spread with a 
hitherto unparalleled rapidity. Several new churches were 
constituted in New England. In New Jersey, Mr. Dicken- 
son, then president of Princeton college, wrote a pamphlet, 
to arrest, if possible, the progress of a sentiment which was 



174 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

fast undermining the long established and venerated usages 
of the prevailing church. But it did not answer the design 
of its doubtless well-meaning author. ''The pamphlet was 
reviewed by Dr. Gill, an English Baptist, in 1749 ; and this 
examination of the subject caused the light to be more 
widely diffused." 

Many converts abqut this time were made to Baptist 
sentiments, who were not gathered into Baptist churches ; 
but, obtaining baptism at the hand of Baptist ministers, 
remained in the communion of the churches with which they 
were already connected. This state of things, though at 
first tolerated, continued, as might have been anticipated, 
but for a short season. For soon it was discovered that the 
new sentiment had made such progress that it threatened to 
prevail over the old ; and that baptism, unless checked, would 
soon displace sprinkling, or affusion, and obtain the exclusive 
practice of these churches. " Hence a fierce opposition was 
raised against what was called re-baptizing, which was de- 
clared to be a very wicked act." 

The Separate churches had become a mixed multitude, 
and, as a consequence, disorder, confusion, and strife, suc- 
ceeded. Councils were called to settle these increasing dif- 
ficulties ; the first of which was held in Exeter, May, 1753, 
and a larger one, the year following, in Stonington. In 
these councils, ii seems that the Baptists and Separatists mu- 
tually participated ; little progress, however, was made in 
attempting to harmonize elements and principles so discord- 
ant. The most consummate wisdom of the ministry and 
church united, could not strike out a path in which principles 
and practices so diametrically opposite could meet and har- 
monize. Nor is this astonishing. For divine wisdom had 
furnished none ; and if they had succeeded in finding one, it 
must have been one of those by-paths of human invention 
which always deviate mure or less widely from the plain, 
straight path of gospel order and practice. The point at 
issue between the two parties seems to have been this : Those 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 175 

who did not feel themselves bound to receive immersion, de- 
manded of their baptized brethren, and of the Baptist 
churches generally, that they should acknowledge affusion, 
though received by them in infancy, as valid baptism. This 
of course they could not do, and hence a separation took 
place in many of these churches ; the baptized members with- 
drawing and forming separate organizations, which soon 
assumed the exclusive character and standing of Baptist 
churches. Thus God in his providence was separating the 
wheat from the chaff, the truth from falsehood, the ordinances 
of his church from the traditions and commandments of men. 
Still, however, the leaven of error was not entirely purged 
out. The light, though shining somewhat more clearly than 
it had done, was nevertheless intercepted by much of preju- 
dice and passion, and not as yet fully apprehended. So 
strong were the ties of former associations that many at first 
could not separate themselves at the Lord's table from those 
with whom they had been accustomed to walk in fellowship; 
and though they seem to have been fully aware of the incon- 
sistency of this course, yet relative attachments triumphed at 
times over principle, and the truth was sacrificed, as it often 
is, at the shrine of human passion and friendship. 

Still this was a point of peculiar tenderness, and was re- 
garded and treated by the churches with a degree of mildness 
and lenity somewhat remarkable, it is true, but not unbe- 
coming, perhaps, the circumstances in which they were placed. 
The ministry of this period seem to have been endued with a 
remarkable degree of wisdom, prudence, and piety. They 
were men, evidently, whom God had selected and fitted for 
the weighty responsibilities and arduous work to which they 
were called ; men who were able and willing to take the 
oversight of the church of God ; to guide her amid the perils 
through which she was passing ; to lead her up from the 
darkness in which she had long been wandering into 
the full light and liberty of the gospel. Theirs was the re- 
sponsible work of combining elements ; of separating the 



176 A MEMORIAL OF 

precious from the vile ; of discriminating between the true 
and the false, both in doctrine and practice ; of collecting, 
arranging, fitting, and harmonizing materials for the estab- 
lishment of the church of God as the pillar and ground of 
the truth upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, 
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. 

They were called upon, not only to preserve the ordinance 
of baptism, which they had received in special trust, in its 
primitive relation to the church, but also to cast a mass of 
mind, just emerging from the darkness of a false theology into 
the peculiar mold of gospel truth, into the form of sound 
evangelical sentiment and of equally sound evangelical 
practice ; and of the manner of which, under God, they met 
this responsibility; of the consummate wisdom, prudence, 
and fidelity with which they discharged their high and 
sacred duties ; of the correctness of their decisions in most 
matters of faith, practice, and discipline ; the present condi- 
tion of the denomination, is perhaps the best criterion. For 
it has advanced to its present state, guided and guarded by 
those simple principles of ecclesiastical economy in which 
they so faithfully instructed the churches committed to their 
charge. And in no way, perhaps, has the wisdom of their 
successors in the ministry been more happily exhibited than 
in attempting no innovations concerning these important 
points of order in the church. Wherever an improvement 
has been attempted it has most signally failed ; both indi- 
viduals and churches have found themselves constrained to 
return and retire within the prescribed limits of an eccle- 
siastical fellowship, based upon union in the truth as it is in 
Jesus. The reason of this is obvious. The light which 
guided our early ministry in the formation and discipline of 
the church was the New Testament. This was their law, 
their canon, their rule of faith and action. They did not 
study the fathers, or the decrees of councils, or the decisions 
of synods, but the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Acts 
of the Apostles. Here they found the grand model of the 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 177 

Christian church, or rather the Christian church itself, as 
constituted and regulated under the immediate teachings of 
the Holy Ghost ; and to this they strove in all things to con- 
form the spiritual temple which they were called to rear. 
Hence, under their hand the building rose with something of 
the simplicity and beauty of the apostolic church. It stood 
out before the world, reflecting in all its prominent features 
of doctrines, ordinances, and discipline, the light of a pure, 
primitive Christianity. * Let it not be supposed that our 
veneration for our fathers in the ministry is excessive ; we 
venerate them because they venerated the New Testament ; 
we follow them because they followed Christ. We speak of 
their religious principles because they were drawn fresh from 
the fountain of truth, the living oracles of God ; we speak of 
their acts because they were conformable to the precepts of 
the gospel, and as such are worthy of our perpetual imitation. 
We admire their spirit, the elevated tone of their piety, their 
unwavering fidelity to truth, their strict and undeviating con- 
scientiousness, their patient enduring of suffering, and their 
manly resistance of religious despotism. They were indeed 
extraordinary men, but were made so by the grace of God ; 
by the peculiar circumstances into the midst of which they 
were thrown ; by the responsibilities they were called to sus- 
tain ; and above all by the sufferings, privations, and perse- 
cutions which they were called to endure. That they were 
great men we do not claim, at least in the ordinary accepta- 
tion of this phrase ; and yet, if purity of mind and character, 
deep and ardent piety, strong attachment to truth, correct 
and comprehensive views of the gospel, a thorough acquaint- 
ance with the word of God, together with an ability in illus- 
trating and applying the same, in an extraordinary degree 
successful in winning souls to Christ as well as in edifying 
the church of God ; if these qualifications in any degree con- 
stitute true goodness, and true greatness, then were they truly 
good and truly great men. They were men of a plain, 
common education, yet of strong, vigorous intellects, of 



178 A MEMORIAL OF 

sound, practical sense ; and hence brought to the study of 
the Scriptures that peculiar artlessness and simplicity of mind 
so essential to a right understanding of the word of God. 
Books they had none. The Bible alone was the man of their 
counsel, their great and almost exclusive study ; and hence 
they became mighty in the Scriptures, thorough and correct 
expounders of the doctrines and precepts of the gospel. 

They were unlearned in many of the modern modes of 
interpretation, untaught in many of the nice distinctions of 
a speculative theology, but were not therefore, we imagine, 
the less evangelical in their sentiments, the less successful in 
their ministrations. 

They seem to have received the Scriptures in their most 
plain and obvious meaning, without seeking to conform them 
to their prejudices, or to bend them to the support of a de- 
nominational creed. Indeed, they had no such creed ; and 
if prejudice at any time they had, it was a prejudice conse- 
quent to and dependent upon a diligent and prayerful study 
of the Bible, and might therefore be supposed to be in 
harmony with truth. Doubtless, like all other good men in 
similar circumstances, they were not aware of the greatness 
of the work they were performing, of the far-reaching influ- 
ence of the principles which they had embraced and were 
laboriously inculcating. 

Hence the absence of all poUcy and design in their pro- 
ceedings touching the future. They left truth where the 
apostles left it, not to be transmitted by means of creeds 
and heartless subscriptions, but to be handed down from 
generation to generation in the experience of those who 
should embrace it, trusting in God that the line of the true 
spiritual priesthood would continue unbroken, and the church 
thus be perpetuated to the end of time. 

We are disposed, however, to trace all this to the superin- 
tending providence of God, to the guardian influence of the 
Holy Spirit. To us it seems evident that God, through the 
agency of these men, was preparing to give the world a 



A LBER T GA LLA TIN PALMER, D. D. 1 7 9 

practical illustration of that great truth which the church 
has ever been so slow to learn, namely : That the Bible un- 
derstood, the Bible believed, the Bible loved, the Bible prac-, 
ticed, is the best, the only safeguard to ecclesiastical purity. 

We have thus sketched, with as much brevity as justice to 
the subject would permit, the history and character of the 
age that witnessed the rise and organization of this church. 
It remains for us now to present in detail some of the most 
important facts and events of its own history. 

The first record subsequent to that of the organization of 
the church bears date of October 3, 1762. It records a 
petition of the pastor to travel and preach the gospel 
wherever God might open the way before him. The church 
gave him full liberty to go and improve his gift wherever 
God should call him. The next record, of October 17, 
1764, is of a somewhat painful character. It describes very 
briefly, a course of discipline which the church was con- 
strained to take with their pastor. The charges against him 
were as follows : first, that he had given occasion to the 
people to think that he was actuated by a hireling spirit, in 
demanding a stated salary for his services ; and second, that 
he professed to have an internal dismission from the church, 
and in virtue thereof pronounced the church dissolved. 
Touching the first charge, he plead guilty and confessed his 
error ; but as to the second, he firmly maintained that his 
internal dismission from the church was from heaven. On 
November 2, 1764, the church, as the records state, after 
much labor, resolved to withdraw the hand of fellowship 
from their pastor. The ground of this was that he perse- 
vered in declaring that the church was dissolved, and that he 
had an internal dismission from heaven. The next, record, 
of October 3, 1765, presents the doings of a council called 
in relation to the case of Elder Palmer. The names of the 
council were Nathan Avery, Timothy Whightman, Simeon 
Brown, Joseph Ayer, Richard Williams, Amos Burrows. 
Joshua Birch, Eliezer Brown. The doings of this council 



180 A MEMORIAL OF 

furnish an interesting specimen of the manner in which they 
transacted business of this character in these early times. 
First, they offered prayer to Almighty God for direction ; 
second, they inquired of the church for what purpose they 
had called them together ; third, they proceeded to hear a 
relation of the matter from Elder Palmer, and also a state- 
ment of facts from the church, after which they adjourned 
to a private dwelling and came to a decision in the fol- 
lowing maimer : the moderator, probably Elder Timothy 
Whightman, proposed to the council the following questions: 
First, had Elder Palmer a right to withdraw from the church 
in the manner and form he did ? Answer in the negative. 
Second, has Elder Palmer, by withdrawing from the church, 
rendered himself worthy of discipline? Answer in the 
affirmative. They then proceeded to advise Elder Palmer 
to reconsider his conduct, and admonished him in the fol- 
lowing manner: "Dear brother, is this agreeable to your 
ordination vows and the solemn charge committed to you ? 
If the church, as you say, was in a languishing condition, 
then where was your love ; where your pity ; where your 
faithfulness to God, to Christ the Good Shepherd, to the 
sheep of his pasture and of your charge ? We entreat you, 
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the bowels of 
love, that you repent and turn again to God, and to the 
church of your charge, lest a broken covenant and the blood 
of souls rise against you." To the church they spake as 
follows: "Dear brethren, our bowels move with compassion 
and sympathy toward you, while we behold you as sheep 
without a shepherd ; but we trust the great Shepherd of the 
sheep will not forsake you. Cry after your elder, cry to 
God for him; who knows but God will restore him to you? 
We advise you, brethren, after you have wholly discharged 
your duty to him in this respect, and he continues incor- 
rigible and impenitent, that you depose him of the ministry 
and the charge committed to him in his ordination. Finally, 
brethren, farewell; the God of peace be with you. Amen." 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 181 

At a meeting held on the twenty-fifth of the same month, 
the church voted their concurrence with the doings of the 
council, and directed their clerk to send a copy of the same 
to Mr. Palmer. Still, however, the final act of exclusion 
was delayed, in hope, doubtless, that their pastor, whom 
they seemed to have truly esteemed, might return to them; 
but in this they were disappointed. A letter is found on 
record, bearing date of January 9, 1776, addressed to Mr. 
Palmer ; in which, after reviewing the course of discipline 
pursued, they proceed to say : " And now in covenant faith- 
fulness to you, our once beloved elder, and in honor to the 
laws of God's house, we exclude you from our fellowship, 
and depose you from the pastoral office committed to you at 
your ordination." We have copied these proceedings at 
length, because they furnish an interesting illustration of 
the principles of order and discipline by which this church, 
in its infancy, and the denomination in general, at this early 
period, were controlled. It proves that our churches at the 
beginning were well governed, well disciplined ; that noth- 
ing like looseness of sentiment was permitted to obtain even 
in the ministry. It furnishes also an early precedent worthy 
of our special regard, showing the specific character and de- 
sign of councils. This council was exclusively advisory. 
It attempted to exercise no authority over the church. It 
simply gave its advice and left the church free to receive or 
reject ir. It was convoked, not to legislate, but to advise; 
not because the authority of the church was not adequate to 
the deposing of a minister ; but because the church, in a case 
perhaps unprecedented, at least of peculiar intricacy, felt 
the need of counsel ; and we scarcely know which to admire 
most, the prudence of the church in asking advice, or the 
high and Christian-like integrity of the council in giving it. 
Having performed their ditty, the council dissolved, leaving 
the church to pursue an independent course of discipline 
with their offending pastor. The executive power was in the 
church, and having, with the aid of a council, ascertained 
16 



182 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

the law of God's house in this case, they proceeded in due 
time to put it in execution. How unlike this was the disci- 
pline of the prevailing church of that period. Here is no 
dominant priesthood, " lording it over God's heritage," 
with the strong arm of civil power enforcing its decisions ; 
no arrestments, fines, imprisonments, or whippings ; but the 
church peaceably assembling from time to time, calmly delib- 
erating upon a most important and trying case, calling to her 
aid the wisdom of an esteemed and intelligent ministry, and 
finally proceeding, in the exercise of her high and independ- 
ent prerogative, to put forth her decision of excommunica- 
tion. This verily looks like the primitive order of Christ's 
kingdom. Here are no synods, no presbyteries, no councils 
invested with legislative power ; but the church acknowledg- 
ing no head but Christ, and no law but his revealed word, 
seeking with due caution and prudence to ascertain its deci- 
sions in a given case of discipline ; and, having done so, 
faithfully executing the same. 

Of Mr. Palmer's character little can be known, except what 
may be inferred from the record of these proceedings, and 
this, we fear, may be less favorable to him as a man, as a 
Christian, as a minister, than strict justice would demand. 
From all we have been able to gather respecting him, we 
should judge him to have been a man of strong and fixed 
prejudices, immovable in his decisions, and somewhat aus- 
tere and censorious in the exercise of his ministerial func- 
tions. He reproved with severity and, without consulting 
consequences, followed out what he regarded as trutji and 
duty. Still his piety seems to have been of a mystical cast, 
which often, as in the case of his confession, led him to 
renounce as wrong what was evidently right, and to hold as 
right what was evidently wrong. In one respect, it must be 
conceded that he was in advance of the age — at least, with- 
out doubt, in advance of his church — namely, in relation to 
ministerial support. It is well known that the views of 
many of our earlier churches upon this subject were exceed- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 183 

ingly defective. And the putting forth of such claims as 
Mr. Palmer seems to have urged, would be likely to produce 
a collision. Most of our members at this period came out. 
from under the oppression of an over-reaching ministry, and 
thence regarded with an undue jealousy, whatever might 
have the appearance of this evil.* No record was kept of the 
members received under the ministry of Mr. Palmer. We 
cannot, therefore, judge very correctly of its comparative 
worth. It, however, embraced a period of twenty-two 
years, and was, in this respect, at least, worthy the imitation 
of the ministry of the present day. I cannot pass from this 
connection, without remarking that the pastoral relation of 
this period seems to have been regarded as peculiarly sacred. 
Both the church and the ministry viewed it as a permanent, 
and in ordinary cases, as a changeless relation. They knew 
nothing of that system of trade and speculation in the min- 
istry in which the churches have of late years so extensively 
engaged. And the ministry knew as little of that ambitious- 
ness of place and station, which at the present time is one of 
its most unlovely features. Mr. Palmer, in the early part of 
his ministry, traveled somewhat extensively, penetrating the 
adjoining towns and counties, preaching the gospel wherever 
God in his providence opened the way before him. He 
seems to have labored with some degree of success in the 
town of Tolland ; and while there baptized the celebrated 
Shubael Stearns, and shortly after assisted in his ordination. 
This was about the year 1751. In 1764, he also baptized 
Simeon Brown, the first pastor of the Second Baptist Church 
in this town.f From all these circumstances, it may, we 
think, be fairly inferred that Mr. Paimer was a man of no 
small moral worth, notwithstanding the unhappy termination 
of his ministry. We are disposed to regard the whole sub- 
ject in the most favorable light on his part, to do justice to 
his character, and to relieve, if possible, the darkness in 

* See Appendix, letter A, f See Appendix, letter B, 



184 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

which the latter part of his life was shrouded. Whether he 
was restored to the church cannot be determined, for the 
records are again broken till 1781, before which time, doubt- 
less, the aged man had gone to his reward. 

Still, as the first pastor of this church, as exercising his 
ministry in a period which tried men's souls, as laboring ex- 
tensively for the diffusion of truth, as a faithful coadjutor 
with our earliest ministers in the great work of gathering and 
planting our churches, as having baptized and assisted in the 
ordination of two men of such eminent worth, we are con- 
strained to reverence his name and memory, and regard him 
as worthy to be enrolled among those noble men with whom 
he was sometime associated. He doubtless had to struggle 
with many embarrassments of a pecuniary character. A 
large proportion of his time was devoted to the work of the 
ministry, and with the scanty allowances furnished him by 
his church, it was but natural that he should become dis- 
couraged and unhappy in his official connection. His great 
error, after all, seems to have been one, which at that time 
was quite prevalent in these parts, namely, that internal im- 
pressions were decisive in all matters of duty and discipline. 
The church and council doubtless acted wisely in purging 
out this delusion ; but the church was sadly behind its duty 
in not giving its pastor a comfortable support. Had this 
been done cheerfully, the connection might possibly have 
continued unbroken and happy until his death. 

Mr. Palmer was succeeded by Mr. Eliezer Brown, a mem- 
ber and licentiate of the Second Church in Stonington. In 
this capacity he seems to have served this church for the term 
of four years. He became a member of this church, 1769, 
and was ordained its pastor, January 24, 1770. The ministers 
who assisted were Joshua Morse,* Nathan Avery, Timothy 
Whightman, Simeon Brown, and Solomon Sprague. Mr. 
Brown entered upon his ministry under circumstances sorae- 



* See Appendix, letter C. 



A LBER T GA LLA TIN PA LMER, D. D. \ 85 

what discouraging ; the church was in a scattered, languish- 
ing condition ; yet his call to the pastorate seems to have 
been unanimous, and he was thence successful in gathering 
and uniting the scattered' sheep. Indeed, he seems to have 
been a man whom God had eminently fitted for the station 
he was to occupy ; and he came to his work at a time when 
his services were greatly needed. We cannot forbear to 
notice, in this connection, the prudence and deliberation 
with which the church proceeded in the choice and call of a 
pastor, as well as the becoming modesty and patience with 
which the candidate awaited that choice and his consequent 
call to ordination. A period of four years is permitted to 
elapse between the dismission of their first pastor and the 
final choice and settlement of his successor. During all this 
time the young candidate preaches to the church. The 
church watches his steady demeanor, his ripening gifts, his 
growing worth ; an attachment commences ; they become 
convinced of his soundness in the faith, and of his ability to 
expound to them and their children the word of God. This 
lays a foundation for a connection between the pastor and 
people of a long and happy continuance ; and under ordi- 
nary circumstances, as in this case, to be dissolved only by 
death. Here is nothing of that haste and rashness in the 
choice of a pastor, which marks the decisions of many of our 
churches at the present day : and nothing of that premature- 
ness of ordination under the burden of which the denomi- 
nation at this moment groans. 

The ministry of Mr. Brown embraces a period of twenty- 
five years. The first years of his ministry do not appear to 
have been distinguished by any unusual success in the 
enlargement of the church. From 1770 to 1781 there is an 
entire blank in the records, about which no definite informa- 
tion can be obtained. In 1784, according to a manuscript 
copy of the minutes of the Stonington Union Association,* 



* See Appendix, letter D. 



186 A MEMORIAL OF 

the church numbered ninety-seven. From this period down 
to the year .1791-2, the additions by baptism were few. 
The ministry about this time was much engaged in adjusting 
the affairs of the denomination in general ; in regulating the 
practice of the churches touching their ecclesiastical fellow- 
ship; in settling questions of discipline, etc. Councils 
were frequent, and the pastor, deacons, and more prominent 
members, were frequently called away ; still, during all this 
period, strict discipline was evidently maintained and the 
church lived in peace and harmony. The office of deacon 
at this time was filled by Mr. Allen Breed. He was probably 
among the earliest members of the church, and perhaps was 
chosen to the office at its organization. From all that can 
be gathered concerning him, he seems to have been a good 
man and to have filled the office of a deacon well. October 
6, 1784, Nathan Randall was chosen deacon, and on the 8th 
of December following, was publicly ordained. In August, 
1785, Reuben Palmer was set apart to the work of an evan- 
gelist.* From this date to 1788, nothing occurs of special 
interest. A few scattered notices of baptisms, together with 
the ordinary cases of discipline, is all that appears on the 
records. From the published minutes f of the Association, 
we learn-that in 1789 the church numbered one hundred and 
two. The year 1790 brings us toward the close of Mr. 
Brown's ministry. He had scattered long the seed of truth, 
and as yet had gathered but little fruit ; but the promise of 
God cannot fail ; his word cannot return to him void. It 
had been faithfully preached and must accomplish the thing 
whereunto it is sent. The seed had been sown and could not 
be lost ; bread had been scattered upon the waters, and after 
many days it must be found. Accordingly, in the year 1791, 
Mr. Brown began to witness the fulfillment of these prom- 
ises. 

We may well suppose that he was often discouraged and 

* See Appendix, letter E. f See Appendix, letter F. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 187 

left to exclaim, in the language of the prophet, " Who hath 
believed our report?" His ministry is drawing to a close, 
and the good man almost concludes that he must be gathered 
to his fathers without beholding the salvation of God. But 
not so ; at this advanced period of his life, the faithful min- 
ister receives the commission, "Thrust in thy sickle and 
reap, for the harvest is fully ripe." This year, 1791, they 
enjoyed a little refreshing ; the Lord began to set them free. 
The year following, the heavens dropped down fatness ; the 
clouds had long been gathering and now poured down a 
"plentiful rain, whereby God's inheritance was confirmed 
when weary. ' ' In this revival, the church received an acces- 
sion of fifty-two, making its whole number one hundred and 
fifty two. This revival, in its steady progress, was evidently 
in harmony with the age in which it occurred. Society then 
was not made up of tinder, steam, and vapor, but of solid 
granite, and consequently was not easily moved. But when 
taken by grace from the quarry of nature and placed in the 
great spiritual temple, it lay perhaps the more firmly upon 
the foundation. It had at least sufficient weight of character 
to settle and ground it in the truth. If the temple did not 
gather to itself so many lively stones, they were perhaps 
more massive, better polished and fitted, by a long prepara- 
tory course of labor, for the place they were to occupy. Men 
did not then understand the process of reducing solid rock 
to gas and of blowing it off in vapor ; but the present age, 
in its advanced light and knowledge, understands all this. 
The mighty agencies of nature are brought under its control, 
and why not a corresponding improvement in controlling 
the agencies of grace? Why not bring so much spiritual 
light, and heat, and power, to bear upon the world as to 
melt away at once its flinty hardness and icy coldness ? 

Such is the philosophy of some men. But the voice of in- 
spiration is : " Not by might, nor by power, but by my 
Spirit, saith the Lord." Doubtless, religious revivals will 
be in some measure conformable to the peculiarities of the 



188 A MEMORIAL OF 

period in which they occur. But we hold it to be a great 
and fundamental truth, that, in whatever age, or under what- 
ever possible circumstances occurring, pure revivals are al- 
ways produced by the sovereign, independent, uncont7'olled 
power of the Holy Ghost. Such was the faith of the fathers 
of the Baptist church ; and the revivals which occurred under 
their ministry were instrumentally developed by preaching 
based upon this foundation, and molded into this peculiar 
form of doctrine. 

October 25, 1792, Peleg Randall was ordained an evan- 
gelist. He was baptized November 19, 1784. On this oc- 
casion, the pastor of this church, with much propriety,' gave 
the charge. Thus the mantle of Elijah falls upon Elisha. 
The old pastor, worn with long labor, is about to be taken 
up to his reward ; but ere he departs he must pour the sacred 
oil upon the head of his successor. He must call him from 
following the plough to assist him in the duties of his infirm 
and declining age, and thus prepare him, when he shall have 
departed, " to feed the flock of God, and take the oversight 
thereof." This was the old way of teaching divinity to the 
rising ministry, and it was surely an excellent, if not the 
' more excellent way. 

In April, 1794, Nathan Chapman was ordained deacon. 
This year, also, the Association held its twenty-second anni- 
versary with this church. On the last day of the session 
Abel Brown, a member of this church, was ordained to the 
work of the ministry. The right hand of fellowship was 
given by the aged pastor. These were among the last acts 
of his life. God was dealing with him in mercy, leading 
him gently and pleasantly down to the tomb. He had seen 
the salvation of God"; laid his hands upon the head of his 
successor ; had met the churches in convocation at his own 
place of worship ; and now what remained but that he 
should depart in peace. Accordingly, on June 20, 1795, ne 
fell asleep in Jesus. Mr. Brown was possessed of but little 
education, yet of strong native powers ; of vivid thought 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 189 

and conception, and of a flowing, rapid delivery. He was 
justly esteemed as among the most eminent of the preachers 
of his day. There are a few still lingering among us who 
remember him well, who in the days of their youth sat 
under the last part of his ministry ; but they are fast retiring, 
like the aged trees of the forest, and soon the last of this 
fraternity will have been numbered with the dead. 

Mr. Brown was succeeded in the pastoral office by Peleg 
Randall. Mr. Randall, as a preacher, was very much unlike 
his predecessor. His talent was not, like his, popular and 
attractive. His discourses were cool, deliberate, instructive; 
but were usually wanting in the glowing warmth and anima- 
tion for which his revered predecessor was so highly distin- 
guished. Nevertheless, he was at times impassioned, ardent, 
and impressive in his delivery ; often becoming toward the 
close of his discourse deeply moved himself, and hence 
deeply moving others. His ministry was much occupied in 
matters of discipline. The church had become somewhat 
enlarged, embracing a wide extent of territory, requiring 
much diligence and care on the part of a pastor to take the 
oversight of such a flock. Whether Mr. Randall was more 
strict in discipline than Mr. Brown, we cannot say ; but it is 
certain that the records during the period of his ministry 
give evidence of a commendable fidelity in this respect. 
Although no general revival was enjoyed under his ministry, 
yet it was by no means unfruitful in the conversion of souls. 
The church was gradually increased from year to year. His 
ministry, like his character, was distinguished by no remark- 
able elevations or depressions ; a steady, onward movement, 
if not rapid, yet sure, characterized alike both the pastor 
and his people. It is delightful to observe the permanency 
of the pastoral relation of these times, and the reciprocal 
affection by which it was sustained. A pastor once settled, 
there was no thought of change, unless called for by the 
special voice of providence. Here is a long and peaceful 
union of twenty-three years ; the pastor going in and out 



190 A MEMORIAL OF 

before his people from Sabbath to Sabbath ; the youth com- 
ing up under his watchful care till he comes to be regarded 
as a father in Israel ; and the words of truth, as they drop 
from his lips, are esteemed as the oracles of God. Mr. Ran- 
dall closed his labors with this church October 8, 1813, and 
soon after removed to the State of New York. His person, 
character, and manner of preaching are fresh in the memory 
of many now before me. He was respected and loved by 
all who knew him. 

In 1813, the church found itself destitute of a spiritual 
guide. It, however, did not continue long in this condi- 
tion. God, in his providence, was arranging circumstances 
to lead them to the choice of the man whom he had anointed 
to this work. In January, 181 4, they received a request 
from the First Church in Groton, to appoint delegates to 
assist in the ordination of Jonathan Miner. The ordination 
accordingly took place February, 1814; and on the twelfth 
of the same month the church resolved to call him to preach 
to them for one year. The call was accepted, and Mr. Miner 
took up his residence with them the following spring. His 
labors were immediately followed by a precious revival. 
During the first month of his ministry, between thirty and 
forty were admitted to the church by baptism ; and within 
the period of three months fifty-six were baptized. This, 
for the times, was a very extraordinary accession. There 
were then no protracted meetings ; no special efforts to se- 
cure a revival, otherwise than as they were called forth 
under the special enkindlings of the Holy Spirit in the 
bosoms of Christians. Then the cloud of the divine pres- 
ence went before the congregation, and the church followed, 
and pitched her tent wherever that cloud rested. Revivals 
then usually originated in this way : Christians would be 
quickened in an unusual degree under the preaching of the 
gospel ; a few, at first, would begin to realize deeply their 
obligations to God, and to be burdened in spirit for the 
salvation of sinners ; and would pour out their souls in warm 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 191 

and thrilling exhortations, following up the preaching of 
their pastor with earnest appeals to the impenitent. Im- 
mediately succeeding this state of feeling in the church, a 
general seriousness would be observed, especially in the 
youthful part of the community. The usual gaieties atten- 
dant upon this period of life would be laid aside ; the house 
of prayer would become the place of resort ; and then the 
downcast look, the falling tear, the half-suppressed sigh, 
would plainly indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit ; and 
from such a period, the work would generally move on with 
increasing power, ' ' till as many as were ordained to eternal 
life believed." 

Many of the present members of this church were gathered 
in from this revival. By them it will never be forgotten ; 
and they will never fail to cherish an affectionate remem- 
brance of him who was the instrument in leading their 
youthful hearts to Christ. Thus, at the very commencement, 
God manifested his approbation of the choice of the church, 
by crowning the first efforts of their pastor with abundant 
success. The beginning, however, is but a specimen of the 
entire course of his ministry. Revival follows upon revival, 
up to its close. True, there were years of comparative un- 
fruitfulness. This of course must take' place in a parish like 
this, where there is little change of the inhabitants, and 
where the same families reside year after year. At the close 
of 1 814, the church numbered one hundred and eighty-five.* 

The next general revival under the ministry of Mr. Miner 
commenced in the autumn of 1822. The record of baptisms 
commences with September 28th, and extended to April 6, 
1823. Most of the members now in the meridian of life, 
were received at this revival. Its hallowed seasons of prayer, 
its baptisms and communions, are still in fresh and sweet 
remembrance. Then we often sang, as we still sing, when 
our thoughts wander back to this bright and happy period : 

* See Appendix, letter G. 



192 A MEMORIAL OF 

" Jesus sought me when a stranger 
Wandering from the fold of God." 

With many of us, these were the days of childhood. But 
they left an impression upon our hearts which I trust neither 
time nor eternity will ever efface. It was the first bright spot 
in our existence, the enkindling of the spiritual life within 
us, the lightening up in our young, yet benighted minds, of 
the hope of immortality. Of the numerous subjects of this 
work, the greater part remain until the present time, but. 
some have fallen asleep.* By this revival the church received 
an accession of fifty-one members, making the whole num- 
ber two hundred and thirty-one. 

February 14, 1824, Deacon Nathan Chapman died, having 
been a faithful member of the church, forty years. He came 
like a shock of corn fully ripe to the harvest. Of him it, may 
truly be said, that he " used the office of a deacon well, 
purchased to himself a good degree and great boldness in the 
faith." He was succeded in the deaconship by his son, 
Smith Chapman, who was ordained May 18, 1826.^ 

In October, 1828, another awakening commenced, and 
continued through the following winter. It was not, how- 
ever, as extensive as the one preceding it. Twenty-seven 
were added by baptism. 

In 1830, the old house in which the fathers first worshiped 
having become dilapidated, and in many respects incon- 
venient, the present neat and commodious house was erected 
and dedicated to the service of Almighty God, with appro- 
priate religious exercises. The sermon was preached by 
Elder John Gano Whightman. 

In the latter part of the summer of 1831, another revival 
commenced, from which twenty-five were gathered into the 
church, making the aggregate number two hundred and 
thirty-two. We have now come down to the close of Mr. 
Miner's ministry as the pastor of this church. It terminated 

* See Appendix, letter H. f See Appendix, letter I. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 193 

March 15, 1834, embracing a period of twenty years; and, 
though briefer than any of his predecessors, yet it appears 
long when placed by the side of our modern system of pas- 
toral itinerancy. From its rise up to this period, the church 
had enjoyed, from year to year, the steady, unbroken minis- 
trations of the pastoral office. During ninety-one years it 
had but four pastors, and under their labors had advanced 
from a state of the most extreme feebleness to comparative 
strength and prosperity.* 

The ministry of Mr. Miner, compared with that of his 
predecessors, was very successful. This may have arisen, 
partly from the increase of population, and partly from a 
more general diffusion of a revival spirit in the churches, 
toward the close of his labors. 

His preaching, however, especially as embracing a compass 
of twenty years, was very effective. His discourses were rich 
in doctrinal, experimental, and practical truth, commingled 
and combined in a manner unusually interesting and in- 
structive. In his doctrinal views he was thoroughly evan- 
gelical and, like his predecessors, decidedly Calvinistic. 
His sermons were often marked by a range of thought and 
strength of sentiment truly astonishing in a man of so limited 
literary advantages. It hence required close attention, at 
times, to follow him ; and on this account he was regarded 
by some as dry and uninteresting, but to the attentive, 
thinking hearer, he was always instructive. 

That he had imperfections, is doubtless more than proba- 
ble ; but even these were constitutional, rather than moral; 
occasional, rather than habitual. He was subject to a depres- 
sion of mind which induced a distrustfulness, painful in the 
extreme to himself, and sometimes embarrassing to his 
brethren. But from this he would soon recover, and ex- 
hibit his wonted cheerfulness and usual good nature. " He 
was a good man, strong in the faith," at times " full of the 

* See Appendix, letter J. 
17 



194 A MEMORIAL OF 

Holy Ghost," and under his ministry "much people were 
added to the Lord." 

The year following the dismission of Mr. Miner, the church 
enjoyed another season of refreshing ; forty-five were received 
by baptism. During the years 1834-37, the church was des- 
titute of a pastor. 

In the autumn of 1837, another awakening commenced, 
and as the fruit of it, forty precious souls were gathered into 
the fold of Christ. In the absence of a pastor during these 
years, "the oversight of the flock " devolved chiefly upon 
the deacons, namely, Samuel Peabody and Smith Chapman ; 
and of the fidelity with which they met this responsibility, 
the prosperity of the church while under their care is the 
best proof. During the year 1838, the pulpit was supplied by 
Rev. Benjamin N. Harris; in 1839, by Rev. Cyrus Miner. 
April 1, 1840, Rev. Charles Randall became the pastor of 
the church ; under his ministry during this year, thirty-six 
were added by baptism. 

During the year 1842, Mr. Randall being absent, the pulpit 
was chiefly supplied by Rev. William Flint. Under his min- 
istry, thirty-five were admitted to the church by baptism.* 
June 17th, of this year, 1843, Mr. Randall returned and re- 
sumed the pastoral'charge. 

We have thus taken a hasty glance at the history of this 
church. Commencing with its rise, one hundred years ago, 
we have followed it in its progress down to the present time. 
We have seen it small at first, struggling with popular preju- 
dice, proscribed by the civil law, yet rising and gaining 
strength under the pressure of all this opposition. 

We have marked its steady, onward course, as we have 
traveled down through succeeding generations, till at length 
we find that the leaven of truth, hid a century since in a few 
faithful hearts, has widely diffused itself throughout the coim 
munity, and is still on every side extending. How marked 

* See Appendix, letter L. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 195 

the difference between that period and this. Then the 
Church sought the protection of the State, and the State 
assumed to be the guardian of Christianity. But now the 
church claims alliance alone with her great spiritual Head, 
lives, advances, triumphs, "not by might nor by power," 
but by the indwelling " Spirit of God." Then Christian 
baptism was scarcely known in these parts, or known only to 
meet with persecution from the prevailing church. Now it 
prevails to a great extent in all denominations, and multitudes 
are buried every year in the likeness of the Saviour's death. 
Then theie was but one Baptist church in this town, two in 
this county, and but three or four in this State. Now there 
are in this town five Baptist churches, and in the State, one 
hundred and eight. Then Pedobaptism everywhere prevailed ; 
now it is rapidly passing away. Then a few scattered churches 
of our faith were found in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- 
necticut, and New Jersey. Now they are everywhere found, 
embracing the largest population of either of the prevailing 
denominations in the United States. We speak not of this 
boastingly ; as a denomination we have nothing whereof to 
glory. 

Our fathers simply preached and practiced the truth, and 
left it to work its own way and win its own triumphs ; and 
in proportion as men have ventured to read and think for 
themselves ; in proportion as the authority of the New Testa- 
ment has prevailed over the authority of the church and the 
ministry ; in that -proportion have the distinctive sentiments 
of the Baptist church been embraced. 

The great question now to be settled is the same which has 
ever been pending : whether God or man shall be supreme ; 
whether human or divine authority shall be regarded ; 
whether the word of God or the word of man shall be 
authoritative ; whether God shall legislate for the church or 
the church legislate for herself. 

This question has all along agitated the world, and will 
continue to do so till Christians, casting off all alliance with 



196 MEMORIAL OF 

vain traditions received from the fathers, come fully to the 
Bible and bow to its authority. The light which a portion of 
the evangelical church has refused to receive, because re- 
flected from a point repulsive to its sectional prejudices, it 
will nevertheless be constrained to follow, or strike hands 
with those who deny the exclusive authority of the Bible in 
points of faith and practice, and wander back amid the 
labyrinths of human traditions to Rome itself. 

God hasten the day when we shall all come to the unity of 
the faith, " having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
God and Father of all, who is above all and in all." 

In view of the past, we are led to exclaim, "What hath 
God wrought ! ' ' Surely he that is mighty hath done mar- 
velous things. His mercy is on them that fear him, from 
generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his 
arm ; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their 
hearts ; he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and 
exalted them of low degree. 

The history of this church illustrates the efficiency of our 
peculiar form of government. That government is strictly 
congregational— j#7V//y independent. Each church controls 
itself, administers its own discipline, receives and excludes 
its own members, chooses and calls to ordination its own 
pastors ; disciplines, dismisses, and deposes them by its own 
independent authority. It may ask the advice of other 
churches, but is not bound to do so. It may convoke a 
council for counsel, but for nothing further. The executive 
power is in the church ; the discipline must be its own ; and 
from its decisions there can be no legitimate appeal. The 
voice of a majority of die male members of a Baptist church, 
must, in all cases of discipline, be decisive. 

Such, at least, are the principles by which this church in 
its government has ever been controlled ; and few churches, 
it is believed, during the same number of years, have en- 
joyed more internal quietness and harmony. 

In closing, we can but remark that we are forcibly re- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, L>. D. 197 

minded of the extreme brevity of life ; of the transitory 
nature of all earthly relations, religious as well as social and 
domestic. " The fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, 
do they live forever ? ' ' The peculiar services and associa- 
tions of this day answer no. The children and the children's 
child: en are here; but the fatheis with their whitened locks, 
and the prophets with their hoary heads, where are they? 
Alas, with but a few exceptions, they are gone, all gone ! 
But a few years since they were here, meeting the high re- 
sponsibilities, and discharging the important duties which 
we this morning have been reviewing. 

Soon we with them shall have passed away. Another cen- 
tury will have rolled by ; another congregation will be here 
gathered, and other lips will be employed in detailing the 
history of this church through another one hundred years. 

What the commencement of that history shall be is put 
within your power, my brethren, to determine. Standing as 
you do at the opening of another century in your history, 
will you not lift up your hearts to the God of your fathers, 
and say, in the language of inspiration: "Let thy work 
appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children, 
and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and es- 
tablish thou the work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of 
our hands, establish thou it? " 



APPENDIX. 

A. 

An anecdote has come down to us which may throw some 
light upon the different views entertained by the pastor and 
people on this point. It was the custom of this church, it 
seems, though opposed to paying a stated salary to assist their 
minister by making him presents of grain and other neces- 
saries of life. On a certain time, one of the brethren, not 



198 A MEMORIAL OF 

wholly unmindful of his duty in this respect, laded his beast 
with wheat and proceeded to the house of his pastor. But 
the good pastor who, in this instance, at least, seems to have 
been more nice than wise, replied that he could not receive 
it as a gift, but would take it if it might be regarded as his 
due ; whereupon the brother, with as little regard to charity 
as the pastor had to policy, abruptly turned homewards, 
carrying back with him his wheat. It is not strange that 
such austerity of principle and manners on both sides should 
have produced unpleasant collisions. 

B. 

Mr. Brown, though unbaptized, had for a number of years 
been a deacon of the open communion Baptist church in 
Westerly, R. I., under the pastoral care of Stephen Babcock. 
They walked together in harmony for some years, till a 
division arose in the church about what w T as then called the 
divine testimony ; the pastor and a certain portion of the 
church maintaining that all- questions of discipline were to be 
settled by certain impulses and impressions, and the deacon 
with the other party maintaining that such questions were to 
be decided by the word of God and moral evidence. The 
spirit of delusion, however, in regard to the divine testimony, 
prevailed ; and Deacon Brown, with his adherents, withdrew 
and formed the Second Baptist Church in this town. 

C. 

The life and times of Joshua Morse are intimately con- 
nected with the early history of this church. The year fol- 
lowing its constitution, we find him preaching in this town 
with evident tokens of the divine approbation ; yet encoun- 
tering strong opposition from the clergy of the established 
order. Though a youth, his ministry seems to have been 
distinguished by the strength and manliness of riper years. 
His manner is said to have been unusually commanding and 
impressive, and warmed with such a glow of feeling as often 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 199 

to dissolve his congregation to tears. Zealous, ardent, im- 
passioned, bringing to his ministry the freshness of religious 
experience, with a heart burning for the conversion of souls, - 
it is not strange that the people nocked to hear the gospel 
from his lips. Nor is it strange that the jealousy of the 
dominant ministry was excited, or that the arm of persecution 
was stretched out when we remember the character of that 
ministry, both in its civil and religious relations. On the one 
hand, it was sentimentally opposed to evangelical piety, and 
on the other, from its alliance with the State, it felt itself 
called upon to resist all innovations upon the established 
forms of worship. It was, perhaps, as pure as a ministry 
could be associated as it was with the State ; as little inclined 
to persecution as any ministry would be, which might, if it 
would, bring to its support the power and penalty of law. 
Still, it is historically true that it was strongly opposed to 
evangelical doctrine and experimental religion. Men were 
then educated for the ministry as ^.profession, without a pre- 
vious preparation of heart and call thereto by the Holy 
Ghost. It is not strange, therefore, that spirituality lan- 
guished. What little was still living, lived in the bosoms of 
the older members who had enjoyed the benefits of a purer 
ministry. The rising generation was coming up destitute of 
all experimental and practical piety, and what was worse, 
was coming into the church in this state. 

In this state of things, it is but natural to suppose that the 
lighting up of the flame of a glorious revival would produce 
a concussion in the religious atmosphere, and wake into col- 
lision the great antagonist principles of moral truth and 
falsehood. 

Mr. Morse was among the number of those faithful pio- 
neers who shared most largely in the trials and sufferings of 
this great religious conflict. Stonington appears to have 
been the field of his earliest labors, as it certainly was of his 
earliest sufferings. At that time, this was the only Baptist 
church in this town. It is, hence, more than probable that 



200 A MEMORIAL OF 

he often preached to this people. There was also a small 
meeting house located a few miles north of the village of 
Pawcatuc, where the Baptists and Separates were accustomed 
to unite in worship. These were dark and troublous times, 
when the little flock of Christ, persecuted by .the nominal 
church, were constrained to seek out for themselves a retreat 
where they might build their altars and offer up their spiritual 
sacrifices of praise to God. Here, we are told, these faithful 
men of God were accustomed to deliver their messages of 
grace with that unction so peculiar to the evangelical ministry 
of that day. 

The preaching of Mr. Morse in Stonington, was attended 
with success ; a revival of religion in the vicinity of this 
church was in progress when he was arrested and carried 
before the magistrate. While the trial was pending, the wife 
of the magistrate is said to have besought him with tears, not 
to give judgment against so innocent and holy a man ; but 
the influence of the clergy and the clamors of a set of 
bigoted gentry, who declared that his preaching was not ac- 
cording to law, prevailed ; and he was sentenced to pay a 
fine of twenty shillings, or receive ten lashes at the whipping 
post. The fine he could not pay, and he was taken to the 
place of punishment ; but while the constable was preparing 
to inflict the stripes, Mr. Morse is said to have addressed him 
thus: "Well, my friend, I suppose you must do your duty, 
but remember that when you strike me, you strike one of 
God's dear children," The simplicity and tenderness with 
which he spoke drew tears from the stout-hearted man, and 
he refused to execute the barbarous penalty, pronounced the 
law unjust, reproached the court for cruelty, and with a truly 
noble generosity, paid the fine, and released the innocent 
sufferer. 

On another occasion, as he was preaching, a clergyman 
came in, put his hand upon his mouth, and commanded a 
man who accompanied him to strike him. 

At another time, while preaching in the south part of the 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 201 

town, two men rushed in and with violent blows brought 
him to the floor. When he had recovered a little, he looked 
upon them and said, " My friends, if you die natural deaths 
the Lord hath not spoken by me. ' ' The word of the Lord 
was not in vain. Both perished in the deep. 

At another time, while engaged in prayer, he was knocked 
down, dragged by the hair down a flight of steps into the 
street, and was there beaten in a most inhuman manner. A 
gash on his face was laid open so deep, that he carried the 
scar to his grave. 

On another occasion, the house where he was preaching 
was surrounded by a gang of the elite and fashionable of the 
town, who had bound themselves by an oath that they would 
kill him whenever he came out. His wife and friends 
entreated him with tears not to commit himself to the 
infuriated rabble. But he replied, " What mean ye to weep 
and to break my heart ! " Accordingly, he went out, and 
finding the mob armed with clubs, he lifted up his hands and 
began to pray for his enemies. The result was, they were 
confounded and subdued, and some convinced of their 
wickedness in persecuting so good a man, begged his pardon 
and retired. 

We speak not of these things in this place to enkindle 
resentment, much less to excite an unholy prejudice toward 
any portion of the existing evangelical church, but as matters 
of history ; as incidents full of interest to ourselves, and of 
instruction to others. 

It is surely a matter of no small importance to us to know 
minutely these incidents of our early history — these sufferings 
through which our fathers passed in procuring for us the 
high immunities of religious freedom, in transmitting to us 
in their purity the precious doctrines and ordinances of the 
gospel. 

They were engaged in a mighty struggle with a dominant, 
but nominal church. They fought the battle well, achieved 
a glorious victory, and we enjoy the fruits. But let us never 



202 A MEMORIAL OF 

forget that the weapons of their warfare were spiritual, and 
were, therefore, mighty through God to the pulling down 
of the strongholds of Satan, both in Church and State. It 
was by a simple "manifestation of the truth, commending 
themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God," 
that they obtained these splendid victories. " Through faith 
they overcame the world, wrought righteousness, obtained 
promises, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant 
in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens." 

In despite of all opposition, Mr. Morse continued his 
labors in this town with great success ; the truth prevailed, 
converts were multiplied, and the feeble church was strength- 
ened and increased. 

D. 

In 1782, is found the first record of appointment of mes- 
sengers to the Association. Yet, as appears from the manu- 
script minutes of that body, it held its fifth annual session 
with this church, October 2, 1777. 

The Association was formed in Lyme, October 7, 1772. 
At its session in 1775, in Groton, the pastor of this church 
was chosen moderator. The primary design of the Associa- 
tion, seems to have been to settle certain existing difficulties, 
and to unite the churches upon some general principles of 
faith and discipline. Hence at their first session they recom- 
mended to the churches to adopt the English Baptist con- 
fession of faith, and the minutes of the following year show 
that it was generally complied with. 

They say as follows : The delegates made returns that 
the churches generally acquiesced in the doings of the last 
Association, namely: "Not to covenant and build with 
Congregational members that hold to the practice of infant 
sprinkling, nor to commune with them at the Lord's table; " 
and also to adopt the English Baptist articles. 

In the minutes of the same year the following record is 
found : " Some mention was made that Elder Eliezer Brown 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 203 

had a member in his church that communed with those who 
were only sprinkled for baptism, which was a grief to the 
Association, and they requested Elder Brown to let his church 
know that they requested a reformation in this matter." 
Yet no notice is found of this in the records of the church. 
It was doubtless an exception to their general practice, though 
it is by no means certain that the church did not, during a 
few of the first years of its existence, allow this mixed com- 
munion. 

E. 

Mr. Palmer at this time resided in Preston, and maintained 
public worship in his own house. He gathered a small con- 
gregation, baptized a number of individuals, and placed 
themselves under the watchcare of this church. There is 
now in Preston a flourishing Baptist church. 

F. 

It is interesting to notice the doings of the Associations of 
these times, as they throw light upon the prevailing senti- 
ments of the churches relative to many interesting questions. 

In the minutes of this year, the twelfth item is as follows : 
In answer to a question proposed by Joshua Morse, respect- 
ing the validity of baptism administered by a person who 
had never been himself baptized, nor yet ordained, it was 
replied, that under the present circumstances of the church 
such baptism is deemed null and void. In 1790, the Associa- 
tion met with the Second Baptist Church in this town. The 
introductory sermon was preached by the venerable Isaac 
Backus, from 1 Sam. 22 : 1, 2. 

G. 

In October, 181 6, the Legislature of Connecticut passed 
an act entitled an act for the support of literature and relig- 
ion ; the design of which was to distribute to the various 
sects a certain amount of surplus revenue. 

February 1, 181 7, as the records state, the church met 



204 A MEMORIAL OF 

for the purpose of expressing their opinion concerning this 
act, and after some consultation, unanimously agreed in dis- 
approving it ; and passed several resolutions, which were 
forwarded for publication to one or more of the public news- 
papers in the State. The law went into effect. But this 
church, true to the great principles of our ecclesiastical 
policy, resisting with a becoming jealousv all overtures from 
the civil power, persevered in their hostility to the act. 

Hence, March n, 1820, the church and society met and 
passed the following resolution : Resolved, That we do not 
wish to receive our part of the money granted to the Baptist 
denomination by the Legislature of this State. 

We admire this stern integrity, this indomitable fidelity to 
the great principles of religious purity and freedom. This 
church knew too well the baneful effects of State patronage, 
to be tempted into so unholy an alliance. The history of 
her early sufferings therefrom was not entirely forgotten, and 
though there might be no apparent, no real danger, yet 
would she not be tempted to violate in practice one of the 
most vital principles of her religious constitution. 

H. 

We cannot forbear to mention in this place, the name of 
Ralph I. Brown. He was baptized September 29, 1822. He 
early devoted himself to the work of the ministry, had 
entered upon a course of study, when his life was suddenly 
terminated, October 27, 1833. The particulars of his brief 
life, and of his happy, triumphant death, have been sketched 
with vivid truthfulness in a little volume by the Rev. Bradley 
Miner. 

I. 

It has always been the custom of this church in the ordina- 
tion of deacons, to have them examined by a council, con- 
cerning their religious experience, views of doctrine, etc. 
Nor can we regard this as unnecessary. The office of a 
deacon is responsible, influential, important, and men ought 



ALBERT GALLA TIN PALMER, D. D. 205 

by no means to be admitted to it, of whose soundness in the 
faith we have not the most satisfactory proof. It is believed 
that one prolific source of difficulty in our churches is to be 
found in the hasty, informal admission of men to this respon- 
sible station. 

If anywhere in the church we need men of strong minds, 
clear heads, and good hearts, we need them here. It has thus 
far been the good fortune of this church to have men of this 
stamp in this office. 



A SERMON 

Delivered in the First Baptist Church, Ston- 
ington, Ct, on the occasion of the National fast, 
September 26, 1861, by Rev. A. G. Palmer. 

Ps. 122 : 6 —Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

Ps. 137 : 5.— It I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 

These passages seem to me not only pertinent to the occa- 
sion which has called us together, but suggestive of reflec- 
tions befitting the exciting times through which we are 
passing. Jerusalem was the capital of the Hebrew common- 
wealth. It was this that made it so precious in the eyes of 
the royal poet, and so dear to the heart of every loyal 
Israelite. 

By general consent, these and kindred passages have been 
interpreted as the utterances of a fervid love for the church ; 
as the impassioned avowals of that invincible fidelity and 
centralizing affection by which the Christian is bound to the 
fellowship and communion of God's people. And this in- 
terpretation is doubtless within their spirit and lawful 
use. 

In the Jewish economy, the civil and religious polities 
were united. In its earlier history, the government was 
a pure theocracy, administered by a divinely appointed mag- 
18 



206 A MEMORIAL OF 

istracy, as in the case of Moses and Joshua, and the first 
judges and prophets. And, when at length, in answer to a 
depraved proclivity to be conformed in their political organ- 
ization to the idolatrous nations around them, God in judi- 
cial anger gave them a king ; still the religious element was 
so positive and absolute in the throne, that faith in God and 
loyalty to the government, or piety and patriotism, became 
convertible terms. 

An Israelite indeed, in whom there was neither religious 
nor political guile, was one that " feared God and honored 
the king," and preferred the peace and security of his 
country above houses, lands, and fireside comforts ; in a 
word, " above his chief joy." 

When Jerusalem was besieged by enemies, every true Is- 
raelite dropped his mattock or forsook his flock, and seizing 
his javelin or spear, turned his face and footsteps toward the 
sacred city, exclaiming, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let 
my right hand forget her cunning, and let my tongue cleave 
to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above 
my chief joy." The love of country is everywhere the 
same, whether under the administration of an Hebrew shep- 
herd king, or of the citizen chief of democratic America ; 
and in proportion to its civilization and moral culture, 
everywhere equally fruitful in an unselfish and heroic devo- 
tion to the popular weal. 

Let us then briefly review the history of this overshadow- 
ing national adversity which puts us into such lively sympa- 
thy with these avowals of the word of God, and makes the 
Bible almost equally the text book of the soldier and the 
minister at the altar ;. of the camp and battle-field ; of the 
church and pulpit ; and of like authority in questions of 
civil as of ecclesiastical interest. 

A few months since the national flag was struck down 
from one of the strong places of the nation's defense ; the 
national honor was insulted ; the national strength chal- 
lenged ; and the very life of the nation threatened at its 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 207 

capital ; not by the insolence of a foreign foe, but by a 
sectional rebellion. 

But in this dark hour of parricidal madness and intestine 
peril, from millions of lips came forth this impassioned as- 
severation of loyalty, " If I forget thee, O my country, let 
my right hand forget her cunning." 

The high and the low ; the rich and the poor ; the learned 
and the unlearned ; husbands and wives, parents and 
children, without distinction of class or sex, from decrepit 
age to infancy — all were moved by one impulse, all swayed 
by one controlling passion — the love of country. 

There is said to be in the physical economy a latent con- 
centration of reserved force and strength, of which we are 
never conscious till some extreme exigency demands its ex- 
ercise and stimulates its action. It is so with some of the 
strongest impulses of our social and moral nature. 

For a time, all love of country will seem to be lost 
under the shifting currents and chafed and agitated surface 
of political intrigue and party strife ; but in the crisis of, 
national danger this reserved force of patiotism is evoked 
and rises up like Samson, to overwhelm the treacherous 
Philistines with slaughter upon slaughter. Doubtless all this 
is as it should be. Like all great controlling forces, patriot- 
ism is developed when needed, and comes forth in quantity 
and intensity equal to the occasion. 

Electricity is not always seen in the flashing lightning, 
nor heard in the crashing thunder ; but it pervades mean- 
while the heavens and the earth, and when its purifying 
power is needed, it goes forth upon the tempest and the 
storm. 

The love of parentage is not always intensely excited, but 
in the hour of sickness or suffering, it watches with angelic 
tenderness and fidelity around the couch of infancy and 
childhood. . So with the love of country. Its seat is deep 
down in the heart ; but like water of the hidden abyss, stirred 
only by some violent convulsion, when once in motion it is 



208 A MEMORIAL OF 

as restless as the surging deep. The echo of the first guns 
against Sumter was the knell of all party spirit and strife 
throughout the loyal States. 

The flashing of the startling intelligence along the wires 
that the war had actually begun, was like the blast of Barak's 
trumpet upon the mountains of Israel ; and millions of free- 
men sprang to their arms and demanded the liberty to avenge 
the insulting treachery. Never in the history of any people 
was there such a total reversion of popular feeling and senti- 
ment ; never such an outburst of wounded and indignant pa- 
triotism ; never the manifestation of such an invincible re- 
solve to wipe out the reproach, and atone at any sacrifice of 
property and life, for the flagrant wrong. Nor was it the 
madness of acerbated pride or blinded passion that ruled 
the hour; it was the intensely excited, but righteously in- 
dignant answer of loyalty to treachery ; of outraged patience 
and forbearance to the precipitate perfidy and reckless te- 
merity of treason. 

Up to this point, men throughout the North, in strong 
majorities, were anxiously looking for some peaceful solution 
of our difficulties. They were divided and sub-divided in 
opinion, from the widest extremes of party fanaticism on 
either hand, as represented in the abolition gospel of 
Musical Hall, or in the servile gospel of the New York 
" Observer " and " Journal of Commerce." It is not denied 
that men, and cliques of men, of the rabid and belligerent type, 
were everywhere to be found. It is conceded that there was 
a large class, silently but keenly sensitive to the swagger and 
menace of the slave power ; but the prevailing feeling, as 
abundantly shown at our local elections, was for an honorable 
peace — indeed, peace at almost any price ; and so strong was 
the tendency in this direction that we began to fear that 
country and government and national honor would be 
offered up as a whole burnt offering to the moloch-of another 
shameless compromise. 

When, therefore, the word went abroad that Sumter was 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 209 

to be evacuated as a strategical necessity, national men 
yielded in silence ; but every expression and attitude showed 
that the whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint with 
disappointment and discouragement. A large and respecta- 
ble wing of the political press, however, regarded it as a 
masterly stroke of "peace policy,'" which was to crush out 
secession and bind Virginia and the other border States in 
decided allegiance to the Union. 

Some of the leading administration journals labored hard 
to convince the South that Mr. Lincoln was par excel- 
lence a conservative man, and that his administration 
would enforce all the constitutional securities of the 
"peculiar institution," as well as dutifully regard the most 
extreme implications of the " fugitive slave code." 

But to all this, the slavocratic regency replied, " That 
their controversy was not with Mr. Lincoln, or with the pre- 
sumptive character of his administration. It might be all 
that was claimed for it — conservative, generous, and just as 
the possibilities of the case would allow; but the election 
had demonstrated that under the Yankee ride of majorities, 
the balance of power had passed from the South into the 
hands of the North. The North had become a unit, or in 
Southern verbiage, sectional ; the empire of suffrage was 
therefore lost to the South ; and as she could no longer rule, so 
she scorned to be ruled, and would therefore at all hazards 
go out of the Union. To this issue she had been looking 
for more than a quarter of a century, and was fully resolved 
now to consummate it." 

Well, this was candid, manly, and evidently truthful. The 
ground of this controversy has all along been the federal 
compact. The genius of the government is freedom. Free- 
dom is national ; slavery exceptional and local. After a 
struggle of years, freedom asserts its legitimate supremacy, 
and assumes the control of empire. 

All this is but the logic of the federal compact, an organic 
necessity, a constitutional law which administrations had 



210 A MEMORIAL OF 

power to modify, but no ability to change in its more ulti- 
mate workings. The leading statesmen of the South saw 
this, and boldly struck for an independent confederacy. It 
is a shallow view which refers this conflict of years to mere 
political ambition, or sectional jealousy and hate. Calhoun 
was no demagogue ; he was a man of profound philosophical 
thought, and foresaw the " irrepressible conflict," and the 
inevitable triumph of freedom over slavery, under the con- 
stitutional provisions of the federal Union. 

Calhoun is dead, ." but he yet speaketh," and his doctrine 
is the animating spirit of this rebellion. Indeed, one can 
almost hear his fiery eloquence ringing through the legisla- 
tive halls of the South, controlling her councils, and electri- 
fying the hearts of her people from the Potomac to the gulf 
of Mexico. It is true — slavery, under the most favored con- 
ditions, can never keep pace with freedom ; freedom is 
youthful, fleet-footed, immortal, a child of the skies. 
Slavery in every way is its antagonism. Two such opposites 
could not be expected long to walk in harmony ; the wonder 
is that they should have kept company so long. The federal 
compact did not anticipate it. It designed that slavery should 
die — gradually and quietly to be sure ; yet that // should die. 
The history of all our earlier administrations proves this, and 
it was worse than silliness or political pedantry to deny it. 
The South concedes it, and says, " Don't attempt to white- 
wash us with the promise of forbearing and conservative ad- 
ministrations. The federal constitution is against us and we 
abjure it. We will separate peaceably if you will let us, but 
forcibly if we must. We have made the experiment, and 
learned to our cost that slavery and freedom cannot exist to- 
gether. The one must exterminate the other." Than 
which nothing is more evidently true. 

But to resume the record of events. Sumter was not al- 
lowed a peaceful evacuation on any honorable terms. It 
must surrender under penalty of bombardment or starvation. 
Its gallant commander with his Spartan band is not allowed 



ALBER T GA LLA TIN PALMER, D.D. 211 

to retire unless he strike down the hated stars and stripes, 
and yield his sword to traitors. The result was a heroic de- 
fense ; a surrender from sheer exhaustion and famine, and a 
resurrection of the old republic to fight over again the bat- 
tles of the Revolution. This shameless breach of peace and 
faith annihilated the spirit of party, and made the loyal part 
of the nation one — the people and the government a unit — 
so that with truth it could be said that we who but a few 
days before "seemed to be no people, were a people," and 
that " a nation " if not literally " born," was yet resurrected 
and regenerated "in a day." 

But if this were a question of might against right ; of the 
stronger against the weaker ; of the oppressor against the 
oppressed, then however strong we might assume to be in ma- 
terial forces, and however confident of a speedy victory, still 
there would be a certainty of a final defeat, for in the end 
the right is sure to gain the day. I do not believe in the 
atheistical apothegm that Providence is always found on the 
side of the heaviest guns. That would falsify the record of 
the Revolution, and no small part of the world's history in 
the struggles of right against wrong, and the providential de- 
liverances of the oppressed from the oppressor. The ad- 
vances of right, if slow, are sure ; the gains of truth are 
never lost ; the stream of freedom never flows backward ; 
never wastes. The light of social and civil liberty must 
"shine more and more unto the perfect day." 

If therefore the government had not the right in this mat- 
ter, I should be rather depressed than elated by the passing 
demonstrations of popular loyalty to its measures of defen- 
sive and subjective warfare. Or if the government had 
transcended its powers, or violated in any way its federal re- 
lations, and the war was one of despotic assumption against 
the constitutional sovereignty of the States, there would then 
be an apology for resistance, and loyalty, if a duty, could 
never be a spontaneous inspiration. But every one knows 
this is not so. 



212 A MEMORIAL OF 

The storm of popular indignation that followed the bom- 
bardment of Sumter, making the heart of the people throb 
as the heart of one man with loyalty, and sending its fires 
coursing through every artery and vein even to the extremi- 
ties of the republic — tightening every nerve, contracting 
every brow, and compressing every lip of man, woman, and 
child, from the lakes to the Potomac, and from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, with the fixed resolve to put down this rebel- 
lion, proves that it was a flagrant breach of faith, a shame- 
less sectional perjury. In every legitimate movement, the 
South has always had strong political alliances in the North. 
She could calculate, as she did, with certainty, for nearly 
half a century back, upon any amount of Northern co-oper- 
ation, in every question involving either her ambition or 
interest. Indeed, the history of the government is, to a 
great extent, the history of Southern administration and 
Southern policy ; the North yielding to her claims, and pass- 
ing over to her hands governmental responsibilities and im- 
munities, satisfied ourselves with the fruitful gains of agricul- 
tural, commercial, and manufacturing industry, or with the 
privilege of working hard and growing rich. The South 
has had the army, the navy, and the government. The 
North has held the plough, drove the loom, and swept the 
ocean. Her seamen have not been commodores and mid- 
shipmen, but captains and boat-steerers. Her landsmen have 
not been diplomatists, heads of departments, and clerks, but 
merchants, mechanics, and farmers. 

In all these matters of legitimate preference, the South 
has been allowed to engross her own choices, and generously 
aided therein. Even the " peculiar institution," through 
partisan alliances, has received from the North a very kmdly 
consideration. 

At the indignation meetings following the brutal attack 
upon Sumner, the leading Republicans were careful to say 
they did not mean any special indignation or disrespect for 
slavery. Who gave the South the odious fugitive slave law, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 213 

and then came home and told Massachusetts that she must 
" conquer her prejudices," or in other words, barter her con- 
science to keep the peace and save the Union ? and New 
England obeyed him for the passing hour, and the Union 
was saved. It was New England's noblest son, the nation's 
diplomatic king — the immortal Webster. 

In the face of historical data like these, who will presume 
to say that the South has not all along had alliances in the 
North equal to all the exigencies of political strategy and 
governmental control. Even down as late as the opening of 
the last presidential campaign, the South was strong in 
Northern affinities, and nothing was wanting for the contin- 
uance of the Southern regime in the government but the 
integrity of the Democratic party. Had she kept that cita- 
del of her strength, she might have been supreme in our 
national councils to-day. But she saw the growing strength 
of the North and West ; the rapid and sturdy development 
of freedom, despite all the checks imposed by her long con- 
tinued control of federal resources ; that the genius and 
spirit of the constitution, by whomsoever administered, was 
freedom, and could therefore never be effectually subsidized 
to the perpetuity and propagation of slavery, and that noth- 
ing remained under the impending logic of events and clos- 
ing up of long accumulating issues, but either to strike for a 
reconstruction of the government or force a rupture and sep- 
aration. 

Accordingly, it is now frankly acknowledged by the 
leaders of the Rebellion, that the election of Mr. Lincoln, so 
far from being the cause of the separation, was simply its 
occasion ; the convenient and successful time for its inaugu- 
ration. Had Mr. Douglas, or any other than their own 
sectional candidate been elected, the result if delayed, would 
have been finally the same. Indeed, it is now well under- 
stood that the Republican victory and the election of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, was a coup de etat of Southern politicians 
for precipitating the revolution. For this end, they seceded 



214 A MEMORIAL OF 

from the Democratic party, abjured it, and sought and pro- 
cured its defeat. 

Such, in brief, is the history of the Rebellion. With what 
success it has been prosecuted, and what its prospects are, 
the record of the past six months and its present status will 
show. If its proportions and the desperate energy by which 
it has been maintained have exceeded our expectations, its 
results have without doubt sadly disappointed theirs. Their 
splendid visions of independence and empire are not yet 
realized. It is found to be not quite so easy a matter to 
break up a government and extemporize a nation as was at 
first supposed. And we, on our part, have learned that 
when treason has been allowed to reach the proportions and 
assume the compactness of an organized faction, and to ap- 
propriate by steal Lh to its use the ordinance, fortifications, 
and defenses of a country, it requires something more than a 
constabulary force to put down the insurrection. 

The magnitude of this conflict is best indicated by the 
lines of battle on either side stretching in parallels with the 
Potomac from the Chesapeake to the Mississippi. And what 
will the end be ? Alas, who can say. 

While we have unwavering convictions of the justice of 
our cause, and believe that we are " on the Lord's side," be- 
cause on the side of freedom, civilization, and humanity, and 
are therefore expectant and confident of victory in the end ; 
yet what intermediate reverses and sufferings we shall be 
called to pass through, no one can foresee. We are begin- 
ning to learn that success, even with the advantages of a 
righteous cause and the overshadowing protection of a just 
Providence, is yet the result of ample preparation, stringent 
discipline, patient waiting, and of enduring courage and 
heroism. The great trial of faith and patriotism is still in 
the future — in that severe, and it may be, lengthened disci- 
pline by which Providence designs to try our loyalty, and 
confirm and consolidate our national character. 

God creates nations ; puts them upon probation ; subjects 



A LBER T GALL A TLN PALMER, D. D. 215 

them to discipline, and educates them for the great ends of 
his wise and beneficent government. For this purpose he 
leads them into the mazes of the wilderness, thrusts them 
into the desert, shuts them up between the mountains and the 
sea, or presses them into narrow passes of moral and re- 
ligious conflict where principles must be tested, integrity 
tried, and fidelity to his authorship manifested and awarded. 
"The nation that will serve me, I will honor; but the 
people that will not serve me shall be utterly destroyed." 

The stability of States, not less than the salvation of indi- 
viduals, is suspended on obedience to God. And therefore 
it becomes us devoutly and intelligently to inquire : What 
are the teachings of Providence in this fiery ordeal ? what 
its reproofs ? its admonitions ? its warnings ? its counselings ? 
its requirements ? And in the light of these, what our 
national failings, frailties, and sins ? It has long been pain- 
fully evident to observing minds that we were rapidly matur- 
ing for the corrective retributions of heaven, and that unless 
God departed from his usual fidelity and severity in his deal- 
ings with nations, he would soon confront us with the 
decided indications of his displeasure. Under the corrupt- 
ing power of an unparalleled material prosperity, in the easy 
and rapid accumulation of wealth, and the indolence and 
profligacy thence arising, we were fast losing sight of the 
true ends of life, and were sinking into the slough of a 
debasing sensualism, where all Christian restraint and obli- 
gation, as well as all allegiance to truth, right, duty, human- 
ity, government, and God were being lost sight of and dis- 
regarded. As a consequence, our whole civilization, and 
with it, in a popular sense, our religion, was becoming gross, 
sickly, effete, and we might add in truth, apostate, dead. 
The decadence was manifest in all the relations of life, 
domestic, social, and civil ; in the household, the neighbor- 
hood, the State, the Church ; in business exchanges ; in 
the political caucus, and not unfrequently in the parish and 
pulpit. And everywhere in about the same descending ratio. 



216 A MEMORIAL OF 

Official responsibilities and places of political trust were be- 
coming matters of purchase and trade, wholly irrespective 
of character or ability, from the president to the village post- 
master; from a foreign minister to the chairman of a town- 
council. Indeed* the whole realm of politics had become so 
demoralized that men who retained any lingering regard for 
honor or conscience, turned away equally in disgust and from 
self-defense. In the more public relations of society, equity, 
right, and merit were seldom allowed a hearing ; availability, 
success, wealth, the almighty dollar — these were the highest 
tests of character ; the standards of social and political 
orthodoxy, and in not a few cases, the most acceptable quali- 
fications for the immunities of ecclesiastical standing and 
fellowship. But from this deadly slumber, from this gross 
and sensuous lethargy, Providence has timely awakened us, 
if not to save us individually, yet to preserve and renew the 
national life. 

As God, from the very borders of Canaan, turned Israel 
back into the wilderness till that perverse generation per- 
ished, and then gave that goodly land to their children, of 
whom it could be said, that they were " holiness to the 
Lord " ; so we trust he will reserve our goodly inheritance 
of freedom, purified and improved by this baptism of suffer- 
ing and blood, as the portion of our children and our chil- 
dren's children forever. It is surely not without some moral, 
and we will hope, beneficent end, that we are so suddenly 
called to pass from the light of as brilliant and luxuriant a 
prosperity as any people ever enjoyed, to the darkness of an 
adversity as fearful in its foreshadowings as any people ever 
endured. For no affliction can be more blighting, no 
calamity more withering, and no curse more desolating, than 
an internecine war. 

Henceforth, till this war is finished, our homes and fire- 
sides, our places of business, workshops, and farms, with the 
luxuries, embellishments, and comforts thereof, must be 
exchanged for the severity and hazards of a campaign of 



ALBER T GA LLA TIN PA LMER, D. D. 217 

carnage and blood. But whatever may be the issue of our 
arms, it is evident that this conflict will not leave us as it 
found us. From necessity, under the administration of the 
camp and battle-field, we are in a transition state, and we 
can but hope that the change may be to a higher plane of 
national existence, and more worthy, enduring prosperity. 
When we have crushed out this Rebellion, and vindicated the 
honor and integrity of the government, as with God's per- 
mission we shall, we will find, I trust, that in the bitter 
struggle, convictions will have been eliminated, and lessons 
of political wisdom gained, which rightly used, will be the 
fruitful germs of a purer national faith and higher civiliza- 
tion. 

One of the most hopeful and proximate results of the con- 
flict, if not already secured, is a more consolidated and per- 
fect nationality. The idea of a family of nations, or of 
thirty-four independent States revolving around the federal 
centre in voluntary harmony and sisterhood, may be very 
poetical and beautiful, but is a political myth and falsehood 
nevertheless. The whole doctrine of State sovereignty, as 
involving the right of secession or neutrality, is a miserable 
heresy, and must pass away. We must become one nation, 
not a community of nations ; one State, not a confederacy 
of States. The national powers must be sovereign, not 
simply " first among equals"; supreme and alone in its 
supremacy. And the man who will not swear allegiance 
thereto, above and against all opposing claims of State or 
county, or town or borough, where he may chance to have 
had his birth, must be held as unworthy of American citizen- 
ship, and branded a traitor. This sectional fealty must be 
exterminated, root and branch, or there will be no security 
to national institutions or national existence. From the 
lakes to the gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, we must 
be one nation. 

Another important lesson of the crisis is, that govern- 
ment is of divine appointment ; an ordinance of God ; 
19 



218 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

not remotely by distant implications, but directly and posi- 
tively; as much so as the church and the ordinances of 
religion. Until this becomes a practical conviction, stimu- 
lated and made authoritative under the sanctions of religion, 
government and law will have little of sacredness and con- 
trol, save what is secured by physical constraint. But how 
slight is our regard for the divine ordination in government. 
Who thinks of yielding to truth, or honesty, or conscience, 
or God, any place in the political caucus or the pending 
election ? Indeed, it has been assumed that religion was too 
sacred for these temporalities, and should confine itself to 
things spiritual and eternal. In this way, the whole domain 
of civil responsibility and suffrage has been made Godless ; 
and the ballot, that most sacred of all earthly trusts, become 
a source of popular venality and corruption, A man has no 
more right to trifle with the ballot than he has to sell his con- 
science or soul, and he who would do the former would do 
the latter, provided he could find a market for so worthless a 
commodity. 

Such are some of the moral implications and lessons 
of this conflict. We are beginning to learn that integ- 
rity and veracity are of some little value in the State ; that 
a religious reverence for the sacredness of the oath is not 
altogether worthless in the responsibilities of civil power; 
that "the fear of the Lord," and a regard for the Sabbath 
may have some slight relation to political wisdom and mili- 
tary strategy. These indications are certainly hopeful, espe- 
cially as the pledges of that higher moral status, to which I 
trust God intends, though it be " by terrible things in right- 
eousness," to exalt us. 

But the struggle is riot ended ; it is simply begun. What 
then is our duty at this time ? I answer : it is a patient, en- 
during, unflagging, unflinching, united loyalty to the govern- 
ment in this trial of its authority and strength. Pray, what 
will life be worth to you or your children, if this govern- 
ment is to be destroyed or exchanged for the despotism and 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 219 

oppression of the slave power ? You say that it shall not be. 
And yet I tremble when I remember that God is just. The 
sin of slavery ; aye, that dark sin ! Is it not a national sin ? 
Have we not bowed down to it and worshiped it, and again 
and again offered incense upon its bloody altar ? Has not 
the wealth of the North, to a great extent, if not equally 
with that of the South, come directly from the wrongs of 
Africa ; from the toil and sweat of the slave ? Have we not 
attempted to ignore all responsibility for this stupendous evil, 
and to purchase its commercial fellowship by political ser- 
vility, till the South, not without reason, came to believe that 
interest with us was above conscience and patriotism, and 
that they could at pleasure purchase our complicity in any 
treason, however revolting, by the simple promise of more 
fruitful financial affiances ? And would it be strange if Prov- 
idence, in its impartial rulings, should decide that liberty and 
property, and life itself should be put in jeopardy by an evil 
which we have been but too willing, indirectly, to cherish 
and sustain? Is not God saying to us, " You will not regard 
the cry of the poor; you ' passed by on the other side,' and 
said you had no responsibility for the wrongs of your brother. 
But, now, the same despotism that enslaved and crushed him 
threatens you and your children, and you must fight or be 
slaves yourselves. You would not help the oppressed against 
the oppressor, and now the oppressor, grown insolent through 
your complicity, spurns your tolerance even, and you must 
fight or wear the manacles you have in all good conscience, 
and in great political faith, allowed to be fastened upon him." 
This is our punishment, and I hope it may prove to be its 
complement. The fearful crisis, this tragedy of treason and 
blood, is the fruit of our dallying with temptation ; of a tem- 
porizing, partisan policy ; of bartering political integrity and 
the national faith for the worthless prestige of administrative 
power and favor. Disguise it as we will, the negro is the 
cause and occasion of this conflict. Around him, in all his 
revolting stolidity and ignorance, the contest is raging. For 



220 A MEMORIAL OF 

him, or for the great principles which his social bondage and 
degradation represent, the dark lines of war are drawn across 
a continent. For him, a nation is divided. For him, men 
of the same stock, speaking the same language, united for 
years in commercial interests and government, and in many 
cases of the same neighborhood and family, separate and 
stand face to face in battle array. O, you never meant to 
fight for the negro ! no, indeed ! 

When the haughty slave power struck down Charles Sum- 
ner, all New England was in a blaze of resentment, and poli- 
ticians seizing the fitting opportunity, created a political 
party, but they cared as little for the negro as the negro 
cares for himself. And even now, mingling in all this strife, 
there is, I fear, very little of humane or Christian sympathy, 
and less of principle for the wrongs of bleeding Africa. But 
we are under the impressment of Providence, drafted into 
this service, and we must fight the " battles of the Lord," or 
be traitors to God and man. God has given us an honest 
president and wise national councilors, for whom we thank 
him. In the dark hour of the Revolution he gave us Wash- 
ington, and now we are hoping he has given us his successor 
in a youthful leader, whose courage, like Washington's, is 
only equaled by his prudence. 

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! " Verily! But the 
unity of the nation is essential to its peace ; its wholeness 
and integrity essential to its prosperity. The doctrine of 
peaceful secession, breaking a nation into fragments at the 
will of a disaffected minority without an effort on the part of 
the government to maintain its authority, would be the end of 
all civil order, and the inauguration of sedition and anarchy. 

But, whatever may be the final issue, it is worth almost 
the painful ordeal through which we are passing to know that 
we are a people ; that we are a nation ; that we have a gov- 
ernment and a country ; that patriotism still rules the na- 
tional heart ; that we are not cowards, and that when freedom 
is imperiled, we fear not death. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 221 

A SERMON 

delivered in the First Baptist Church, Stonington, 
Ct, on the Sabbath evening following the assassi- 
nation of Abraham Lincoln. By A. G. Palmer, 
D. D. This sermon was repeated by special 
request, in the Baptist Church of Noank, the fol- 
lowing Sabbath. 

Isa. 59 : 9. — " We looked for light, but behold obscurity." 

Under the deep gloom that to-night oppresses every heart, 
I fear I shall not be able to find words, or command an utter- 
ance, befitting the occasion. 

Indeed, at a time like this, when the voice of God is heard 
"out of the thick darkness" saying, "Be still and know 
that I am God; I will be exalted in the earth," — speech 
seems almost a sacrilege. 

The nation is black with astonishment ; terror-stricken and 
dumb at the ghastly tragedy of treason and crime in the 
Capital. 

Our pulses freeze, our breath congeals, and our flesh grows 
damp and cold with an icy sweat as the frightful message 
breaks from the wires, " The president has been assassinated." 
Fearful as we knew the crises to be through which we were 
passing ; depraved, reckless, desperate, and bloodthirsty as 
we knew the forces to be with which we were contending, 
still no one thought that in the nineteenth century, in a land 
of ripened civilization, and under the genial nurture of 
Christian institutions, a crime like this was possible. 

This is no time for recrimination ; no time for words of 
bitterness, or for partisan impeachments ; but under the 
deep shadow of this great sorrow, under the intense agony 
of the national heart, there is but one conviction, one 
verdict, the verdict of a profound and ominous silence. 
This national assassination — this attempted butchery of the 



222 A 31E3IORIAL OF 

government ! you know what it is. It is the murderous 
recoil of the slave power ; the deadly thrust of treason at the 
nation's life; this it is — nothing less; nothing else; and 
when the nation shall speak, it will as with the voice of God 
pronounce accordingly, and decree the utter extermination 
of this " mystery of iniquity." 

Yes, it was treason, it was the Rebellion, it was the infernal 
wickedness of slavery that sped the ball and plunged the 
dagger of assassins for the life of Abraham Lincoln and 
Win. H. Seward. And for what ? Because they had fiercely 
and stubbornly assailed slavery ? No ; for their record 
neither charges them with this offense, nor accredits them 
with this virtue. But it was because these men were the 
embodied life of the nation, entrusted with its authority and 
power ; set for its defense and charged with the employment 
of its forces for the suppression of insurrection and the 
punishment of " evil doers." 

Ah, friends, it was not Abraham Lincoln that slavery 
assassinated, but the mighty constituency of freedom which 
he represented — the nation ; you and your children in all 
coming generations. Depend upon it, the same deadly hate 
of liberty that took the life of the president, would, with the 
same cold-blooded villainy, take the life of every loyal citizen 
in the land ; and nothing but our military superiority, and the 
crushing power of our veteran legions has thus far prevented 
this exterminating vengeance from reaching your doors, 
and from pouring out your blood upon your very hearth- 
stones and altars. We shall at length learn — God grant not 
too late — that the price of liberty is always and everywhere 
eternal vigilance, and that every compromise with its antag- 
onisms of every form, "especially with slavery, is sure to be 
followed by an avenging retribution of woe. 

All along, under the conservative policy of Mr. Seward, and 
the guileless forgiving temper of the president, the adminis- 
tration has dealt forbear in gly with the Rebellion ; anticipating 
with an unseeming haste every favorable crisis to pronounce 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, L>. D. 223 

terms of reconciliation, lenient in the extreme ; seeking by 
kindness, if possible, to win its victims back to loyalty and 
peace. But, as you know, every overture has been met with 
defiant comempt and scorn. And this is their reward — 
assassination. 

The Rebellion, instead of being subdued by this kindly 
ruling administrative clemency, becomes reckless and des- 
perate, and culminates in a crime that has no parallel upon 
the pages of history. 

Csesar fell while enslaving the nations and while crushing 
out the liberties of Rome. Abraham Lincoln fell while 
undoing "heavy burdens," while "proclaiming liberty to the 
captives," and while saying to the oppressed " go free." 

What will the civilization of the world say to this ? When 
the bloody deed crosses the Atlantic, Europe will put on 
sables and go into mourning. 

In cottage and palace, in workshop and counting-room, 
but especially in the dwellings of the poor, tears will be 
freely shed for his untimely end. From the frozen Russias 
to the sunny plains of Italy, from the Alps to the rugged 
hills of Wales and Scotland, will be heard one deep wail of 
sorrow, one lengthened sob of sympathy with us in our great 
woe. Mr. Lincoln was honored and loved by the people in 
Europe scarcely less than at home. He is the world's martyr 
of freedom, and history will canonize him as such. And 
history will also write that this darkest crime in the annals of 
the world, was committed in the capital of the United States ; 
that the chief magistrate of the nation — the generous, for- 
bearing, and noble Abraham Lincoln — was brutally murdered 
at the instigation and under the cognizance of the Con- 
federacy, and at the very moment too, when, in the flush of 
victory, he was meditating only clemency and good will to 
his enemies. 

His last inaugural ! How sweet and gentle and Christian 
its spirit ! What fairness and integrity, blended with what 
forgiving tenderness and love ! It breathes the fragrance of 



224 -4 MEMORIAL OF 

saintship, and seems as we now read it almost like a pensive 
prophecy of his impending doom. Had he known it was to 
be his farewell address to the American people, it could 
scarcely have been more befitting ; so child-like, so simple, so 
pure in thought, so chaste in diction and spirit ; the whitest 
marble will not be white enough for its tablet, nor the purest 
gold fine enough for its lettering ! It will go out to the 
world and go down to history as a witness of the damning 
guilt of a treason that could seek the blood of so good, so 
just a man. 

But, thanks to God, though the executive strength and 
glory of the nation has fallen, yet the nation lives and will 
live ; and will live to visit speedily the extreme penalty of 
justice upon all the complicities and accessories of this crime. 
The nation will now arise and gird itself to fulfill the retri- 
butive ends of Providence. 

Henceforth the passwords along our lines will be : "No 
more dalliance with slavery"; "no lenient leaning toward 
traitors"; "no easy paroles for assassins"; "but justice, 
stern, stern justice." 

If the blood of righteous Abel "cried to heaven for ven- 
geance," how much more the blood of honest Abraham Lin- 
coln. And the cry of his blood will be heard and answered. 
A nemesis more certain than that which brooded over Egypt, 
and a destruction more terrible than that which overwhelmed 
Pharaoh and his hosts in the sea, will sweep this brutal slave 
power from the earth. 

But the great lesson of this providence — for in its permis- 
sion it is providential — is one of profound penitence and 
humiliation. It says to us, as a people, " Humble yourselves 
under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt 
you, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. ' ' 

Yes, my friends, God has cared for us ; cares for us now, 
and will, I trust, care for us to the end. 

Not more immediately or faithfully did he lead Israel in 
the wilderness than he has lead us in this terrible conflict. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D.D. 225 

All our reverses and failures, as well as victories and suc- 
cesses, have been timed and graduated to our moral dis- 
cipline. 

The mission of Israel was the unsparing extermination of 
the Canaanites, "root and branch," from the land. Not be- 
cause God delighted in judgment, but because of their abom- 
inable wickedness. 

They had " filled the land with their idolatry and pollu- 
tions " till it was ready to "vomit them out." " The cup 
of their iniquity was full." They were only fit to be de- 
stroyed. But when Israel began to be lenient and sparing, 
whether from interest or a false sympathy, then the divine 
judgments fell upon them. Saul for sparing Agag, a royal 
monster, whom God commanded to be destroyed, lost his 
throne. 

I fear this nation has never yet humbled itself "under the 
mighty hand of God." We have been forced into this con- 
flict at every step, and have been ready to draw back just as 
soon as the murderous clutch of slavery relaxed from our 
throat, and our life was felt to be released from absolute 
jeopardy. The war in its earlier stages had, I fear, little of 
moral principle. It was a simple struggle of the national 
authority against disintegration — that is all. 

Even Mr. Lincoln said "he would save the Union with 
slavery, if he might ; without slavery, if he must ; but at all 
events, the Union." 

Was this his sin for which he was only permitted to see the 
"Union saved without slavery," but forbidden to remain to 
enjoy it ? But God soon gave us to understand that the 
Union could not be saved with slavery. He gave us no 
indications of final success till we made right and truth and 
justice supreme; and as we have fought "on this line" we 
have been successful, and as we have declined from it we 
have failed. 

Every attempt to engross a premature peace, has been fol- 
lowed by some corresponding blight and judgment, and will 



226 A MEMORIAL OF 

be to the end. " We must finish the work we are in." We 
must destroy slavery or God will destroy us. 

Is it said that we have sins at the North as well as at the 
South ? Doubtless. But the great sin of the North has 
been and z>.its persistent and almost invincible complicity 
with slavery, clinging to us like idolatry; or the "sin of 
Jeroboam the son of Nebat wherewith he caused " the seced- 
ing tribes of " Israel to sin." 

All along, the Rebellion has drawn its life, its ability to 
endure, its purpose and hope of final success from partisan 
sympathy in the North, rather than from the exhausted 
resources and waning vitality of the South. 

And our great danger at this moment, as the military power 
of the South is broken under the tread of our victorious 
legions, is, that we shall have, under the parole policy, an 
invasion of assassins at our very shrines and hearthstones. 

In vain do we cry, " Peace, peace, when there is no peace." 
More than once, or twice, or thrice, has this soft policy of 
allowing crime to go unwhipped of justice, well nigh ruined 
us. We have borne with treason in high places ; shirked the 
"ministry of vengeance" in the "punishment of evil 
doers"; till villainy assumed, not without reason, that we 
"held the sword in vain," and that crime might be com- 
mitted with impunity. 

Indeed, for years past, in all judicial and governmental re- 
lations, we have practically ignored the divine authority and 
a retributive Providence. With an almost atheistical license 
we have set aside right and truth and equity, and have said, 
" How doth God know, and is there knowledge with the 
most High?" We have gloried in our liberty and free 
institutions, as if they were the purchase of our own valor 
and strength, while at the same time bartering them away 
under the rulings of a servile expediency and sordid avarice, 
presuming that we could keep our goodly heritage by partisan 
frauds and alliance with iniquity. But the voice of this provi- 
dence is: "Verily, there is a God in the earth that judgeth 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. - 227 

righteously." "By terrible things in righteousness, wilt 
thou answer us, God of our salvation." 

Let us, under this dark cloud, bow down with unfeigned 
humility before the Almighty. We are to-day a stricken 
nation ; a bereaved people. God grant that we may be a 
truly humbled people. If this does not bring us into the 
dust and renew our faith God-ward.. I know not what the end 
will be. But I trust it will. The very severity of the disci- 
pline indicates a gracious purpose, and we may hope soon to 
hear God say to us r " For a small moment have I forsaken 
thee, but with everlasting mercies will I gather thee." I 
believe God will bring us safely out of this conflict, and 
settle us upon our old foundations, and that this baptism of 
blood will consecrate us to that higher civilization of Chris- 
tian principle and universal justice which Providence seems 
about inaugurating for the world. 

Indeed, the death of Mr. Lincoln seems like an "expia- 
tion " — like a propitiatory " offering," to stay some brood- 
ing vengeance for our guilt — like a fulfillment of some neces- 
sity, "that one man should die for the people, and that the 
whole nation perish not." 

Ah ! how little did he think when he said, " If it be need- 
ful that for every drop of blood drawn by the lash, one 
should be returned by the sword," that his own blood 
would be required to fill up the full measure of restitu- 
tion. ' 

Nor, had he known it, would he with any less of religious 
reverence have said: " The judgments of the Lord are true 
and righteous altogether? " 

His last will and testament, of which his poor dumb 
wounds are the seal, was his proclamation of emancipation — 
the bequeathment of freedom to four millions of slaves. It 
was his dying trust to the nation ; and the American people, 
without distinction of party, will gather around his bier, and 
by his scarcely staunched blood, swear they will see it 
executed. It has taken a long and painful discipline to 



228 A MEMORIAL OF 

strengthen and nerve the national heart for this work. Again 
and again we have faltered and sought to be excused. 

But the spell is broken. This bloody act comes with the 
authority of " a voice out of heaven," saying, "Come out 
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and 
that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have 
reached unto God, and God hath rewarded her iniquities. 
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her 
double according to her works. In the cup which she hath 
filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified her- 
self and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give 
her. For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen and shall see 
no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day — 
death, mourning, and famine, and she shall be utterly con- 
sumed, for strong is the Lord God that judgeth her. Rejoice 
over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for 
God hath avenged you on her. For in her was found the 
blood of prophets and saints and the souls of men." 

How literally the word of the Lord has been fulfilled in 
the destruction of this antichrist of the South — the slave 
power in arms against God and humanity — the sudden down- 
fall of the Rebellion will show. 

Like Babylon of old, when the time of her judgment had 
come, in one short week this stupendous treason has perished. 

Its proud and defiant armies have been routed and scat- 
tered ; its haughty captains led as captives, and the arch- 
traitor himself, with his bloody hands clutching millions of 
gold wrenched by extortion from the rich, or wrung from the 
sufferings of the poor, is a fugitive and vagabond upon the 
earth. 

Who will not, in the language of the Psalmist, pray, "So 
let thine enemies perish, O Lord." 

Shall we then hold all the Southern people responsible for 
this crime? By no means. I doubt not there will be tears 
of as sincere sorrow shed at the South as at the North, and, 
if permitted, multitudes would mingle their tears with ours 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 229 

around the remains of a president than whom none ever 
loved them more, or more earnestly sought their good. 
Against the innocent deluded people of the South we disavow 
all vindictive feeling and purpose. Our spirit toward them 
is that breathed in the prayer of the dying Saviour : " Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they do." But for 
treason and for slavery, out of which treason with all its 
kindred villainies has grown, we have no feeling but that of 
the most intense hatred, and no words but those of uncom- 
promising and eternal execration. 

But in the midst of our deep sorrow, it is sweet to know 
that this sudden call to martyrdom did not find Abraham 
Lincoln unprepared. While making no ostentatious profes- 
sion of piety, it is well known that he was in the daily prac- 
tice of its devotional duties — the reading the Scriptures and 
secret prayer, and that latterly his character had acquired 
additional strength and beauty from the refining charities and 
virtues of the Christian faith and experience. Like Abra- 
ham of old, he walked with God, and as he was the true 
friend of man, so I doubt not he was a true friend of God — a 
humble disciple of him who was "meek and lowly," and 
who gave his life for the world. 

But it is difficult to feel that Mr. Lincoln is dead ; that he 
is no longer among us and of us ; that his benevolent, hope- 
ful, and trusting soul will no longer smile upon us ; that his 
voice of fatherly counsel will no longer guide us ; that his 
eyes of thoughtful saddened humor, themselves a prophecy 
of his truthful life and tragic death, are closed forever. 
When we think of Washington, of the White House, of the 
cabinet, it seems that he must still be there presiding, watch- 
ing, counseling, restraining, guiding all. It is almost impos- 
sible to avoid the illusion that his hand is still on the helm, 
guiding the Republic as she dashes on amid the billows of 
rebellion and civil strife. 

Indeed, the intense excitement of yesterday and to-day; 
the deep darkness brooding over the land ; the sorrow 
20 



230 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

stamped on every face ; the mingled grief and consternation 
almost chiseled into every brow ; and the wild throbbings of 
our hearts as the hard stony fact has everywhere faced us 
that the president has been assassinated — murdered under the 
very shadow of the capitol — all this seems like a fevered 
dream ; like the frightful shadings of some disturbed vision 
of the night. 

But it is no dream ; no fiction ; no drama ; it is history — a 
history more terrible than dream, or fiction, or drama — the 
history of treason, conspiracy, and blood. 

His body lies cold in its wounds at the capital, but his 
spirit mingles with the noble army of freedom's " confessors 
and martyrs," and with the sainted heroes of our country 
gone before to the " better land," 

May God sanctify the nation by this additional " trial of 
its faith." What the future has for us none can tell ; verily, 
we know not what a day may bring forth. 

But God reigns. He can make the wrath of man to praise, 
and the remainder of wrath he can restrain. He can bring 
light out of darkness ; life out of death ; and freedom even 
out of the bloody conspiracies of slavery. 

God grant that the blood of Abraham Lincoln may cement 
the loyalty of the nation, North and South, in one strong 
league and brotherhood to maintain the national authority ; 
to vindicate the national honor ; to restore peace and to 
mete out to murderers, assassins, and tiaitors such punish- 
ment as the protection of life and the safety of the republic 
demand. 

Let us, in this hour of national sorrow, abstain from all 
partisan animosities and ungenerous personal reflections. 

And now in the words of our beloved president, "with 
charity for all, and with malice for none," putting away our 
tears and crushing back the swelling emotions of our hearts, 
let us go forth " to finish the work we are in." 

" And may God think upon us for good," and " his good 
hand be upon us to give us an unexpected end ' in restoring 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 231 

to us speedily national unity and a righteous enduring 
peace. Amen. 

THE OATH OF FREEDOM. 

The beauty of our Israel, 

The nation's strength ! the nation's tower! 
Twice chosen chief ! loved, O how well ! 

Hath fallen 'neath the assassin's power. 

Foul treason, writhing in its shame, 

And slavery ravenous of blood, 
Struck down, with murderous hate and aim, 

Lincoln — the friend of man and God. 

Now, by his flowing wounds we swear, 

Since slavery hath broke the chain 
That bound us long, we'll never wear 

That bond of infamy again. 

We swear the nation's holy soil, 

Baptized to freedom in his blood, 
Shall no more claim the bondman's toil, 

And only be by freemen trod. 

Help us, O God, this oath to keep ; 

We pledge it in thy sacred name; 
And when in death we are called to sleep, 

We'll swear our children to the same. 



CONVENTION SERMON, 

Preached before the Connecticut Baptist State 
Convention, at Waterbury, 1872, by Rev. A. G. 
Palmer, D. D. 

Col. I : 27 : " The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." 

As we open the New Testament, especially the epistles, we 
are at once met with the fact that the writers held strong 
convictions of the dignity and value of the church of God. 
They always present the church as engaging the divine 
affections, the divine counsels, and the divine purposes from 



232 A MEMORIAL OF 

eternity. They everywhere teach, as in the context, that 
before the " foundations of the world " were laid, or angels 
were created, the purpose of salvation was formed, and all 
the periods and conditions of its development and consum- 
mation were appointed. 

Indeed, it is boldly assumed, that the creation in all its 
vastness, the universe with all its wealth of beauty and wisdom 
and power, — is subordinate to a higher and brighter revela- 
tion of God in the gospel. They say that God hath " created 
all things by Jesus Christ, and for his glory they are and were 
created," and that " of him and through him and to him are 
all things." 

They assume that the glory of God is not to be seen in the 
mechanism of the universe, nor in the material light and 
beauty with which it is clothed; but in the higher moral 
mechanism of the gospel and in " the light of the knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." And 
therefore the redemption of the church is always regarded as 
the crowning work of the divine manifestation, and as the 
culmination of the divine purposes. 

Creation is subordinate to grace. The universe is the 
scaffolding of redemption ; the lower plane, the material 
base where God begins to disclose the rudiments of that 
spiritual glory which will brighten on the vision of the holy 
as the eternal ages roll by. 

Christ formed the worlds by the word of his power ; but 
"the church he purchased with his blood." The heavens 
are the work of his hands ; the fruit of infinite wisdom and 
might ; but the church is the reward of his incarnation ; of 
his holy nativity ; of the manger ; of his poverty and toil ; 
of his bloody sweat ; of his cross and dying agony and 
shame. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that 
he might cleanse it by the washing of the water of the word, 
and present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot 
or wrinkle ; robed in divine purity, and clad in the loveliness 
and beauty of immortal youth. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 233 

Such are the current illustrations of the New Testament 
touching the work of redemption and the divine relations of 
the church of God. No wonder that Paul, under this mag- 
nified view, prayed so earnestly for the Ephesians that God 
would enlighten the eyes of their understanding, that they 
might know what was the hope of their calling, and what the 
greatness of his power toward those who believed, and what 
the riches of his glory in the inheritance of the saints ! 

In what, then, does the wealth of Christ's inheritance in 
the saints consist ? What are some of those elements of being 
and character which make the church so valuable in the esti- 
mation of heaven, and constitute her pre-eminence over all 
the works of God, " the inheritance of Christ ? " 

This is the question which now claims our thought ; and 
may the Holy Spirit so guide us into all truth, that we may 
say : " We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory 
of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to 
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

i. " The riches of Christ's inheritance in the saints " must 
have a primary regard to the radical and essential value of 
humanity, or to the worth of the human soul. 

Worth of every kind, whether intrinsic or relative, is indi- 
cated by price or cost. The price paid is the estimated value 
— at least of the purchaser. A barren piece of land some- 
times commands a fabulous price. The value may be in the 
soil, or in the location ; but the value is real and positive. 

Now God has declared his own estimate of the soul. He 
has determined its worth to himself by the price paid for its 
redemption. " Ye were redeemed not with corruptible things, 
as silver and gold." No, indeed ! Gold could not redeem 
the soul. The universe could not represent its wealth. A 
thousand smoking altars and ten thousand bleeding victims 
could avail nothing toward its redemption. Over the 
church it is written, in letters of golden light, " Bought with 
a price, even the precious blood of Christ." " The church 
which he hath purchased with his blood" 



234 A. MEMORIAL OF 

But we have in our darkness very low and unworthy views 
of the dignity and value of humanity ; especially in its deg- 
radation and integrity, as it lies within us and around us, 
wrecked and broken by the fall, manacled and enslaved by 
passion, and imbruted by debasing appetites and lusts. As 
we look at humanity in its ruins, blighted and despoiled by 
sin ; with its beauty marred, and its glory profaned in the 
dust, we are constrained to exclaim with the Psalmist : 
" What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of 
Man, that thou visitest him?" But when we turn to the 
cross and study its mysteries, and see therein the love of 
God for the fallen race, humanity begins to be " transfig- 
ured," "the fashion of its countenance changes," and its 
sordid vestments become white and glistening. 

It is true that under the simple light of nature men have 
dreamed of a higher human destiny, and of another and 
a purer life. Socrates speculated, and Plato reasoned 
strongly upon the abstraction of an ideal immortality. But 
it was reserved for the gospel, by its amazing redemption, 
and by its infinite sacrifice, to " bring life and immortality 
to light" by the "resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead." 

And it is intensely this "purchased" immortality; this 
gracious relation of the church to the " life everlasting," to 
heaven, and the ever unfolding gloiies of " God in Christ," 
that makes the church the riches of God's inheritance. 

Liberty has been made doubly dear to us by the price we 
have been compelled to pay for it. National existence and 
unity have literally been purchased by blood. But we feel 
that they are worth the cost. And the church, in God's 
estimation, is worth the "purchase," — the "redemption." 
The natural heart cannot see this. Christ crucified is "to 
the Jew a stumbling block, and to the Greek foolishness. ' ' 
The world sees nothing of special worth in the church ; "no 
form nor comeliness that should be desired." 

And in truth there is in the church nothing attractive to 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 235 

the eye of sense. Her exterior, like that of the tabernacle, 
is often forbidding and repulsive, and has little affinity with 
what the world regards desirable and valuable. Indeed, 
upon a worldly basis, the "inheritance of the saints" is 
often the most undesirable. There have been times when 
the world would not take the church as a gift ; times when 
in her stern and unrelenting fidelity, like her Lord, she has 
been "despised and rejected of men." And in her best es- 
tate and most favored relations, there will always be found 
enough in the inworking and outworking of a true Christi- 
anity to make it offensive to the carnal heart, and to excite 
the bitter hostility and proscription of the world. 

But beneath this outward covering of "rams' skins and 
badgers' skins ' ' ; beneath her coarse and unsightly exterior ; 
beneath what the world regards as a needless austerity of 
faith and discipline, of humility and self-denial, there are 
concealed the elements of a divine worth ; a glory of char- 
acter, and principle, and destiny, which makes her in the 
sight of God " Elect and precious." 

It is of the church that God says, " This is my rest for- 
ever : here will I dwell, for I have desired it." It is of the 
saints, even in their deep poverty, and seclusion, and social 
exile, that God says : " They shall be mine, when I make 
up my jewels." It is of the church that it is written : " Out 
of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." 
" The Lord's portion is his peoph, and Jacob is the lot of 
his inheritance." 

John says he saw " a great multitude which no man could 
number," standing upon the sea of glass before the throne, 
and " they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to re- 
ceive blessing, and honor, and dominion, and might, for 
thou hast washed us in thy blood, and hast made us kings 
and priests unto God." And on through eternity the wealth 
of Christ's inheritance in the saints will continue to increase, 
as they receive more and more of his fullness, and reflect 
more and more of his glory. 



236 A MEMORIAL OF 

2. But the worth of the church is not only personal and 
intrinsic ; it is also relative and reflective. 

In the redemption of the church, God has laid open the 
deeper and deepest elements of his character and govern- 
ment. It is hence the apostle so often speaks of the gospel 
as " a mystery hid from other ages, but now made manifest 
through the church," not only in this world, but in the dis- 
tant periods of eternity, for the study of the universe for- 
ever. " That in the ages to come, he might show the ex- 
ceeding riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded 
toward us in all wisdom and prudence." " To the intent 
that now unto principalities and powers in heavenly places 
might be known through the church the manifold wisdom 
of God." 

What a conception ! The church a monumental record 
of God's grace and love, rising up into the depths of eter- 
nity. The church a temple whose pinnacles shall cluster 
around the throne of God forever. The church a city of 
burnished gold, walled around with precious stones, and in 
which " they need not the light of the sun ; for the Lord 
God is the light and temple thereof." In all these rich and 
gorgeous emblems God would shadow forth his estimation of 
the church, and make known his purpose of love toward her. 

Over every page of her history will be written : "To the 
praise of the glory of his grace." In redemption, his jus- 
tice, his holiness, his truth, his love, his mercy, his good- 
ness, his grace, and his power will all be so seen as to con- 
strain the confession : " Holy and just and true are thy 
ways, Lord God almighty." Redemption will be the " new 
song " of the everlasting ages. 

3. Let us pass to contemplate the worth of the church for 
the present world. 

" As my Father hath sent me into the world, so have I 
sent you into the world." " Herein is my Father glorified, 
that ye bear much fruit." " Ye are the light of the world ; 
ye are the salt of the earth." "Let your light so shine 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 237 

before men, that they may see your good works and glorify 
your Father in heaven." "I pray not that thou shouldest 
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep 
them from the evil." 

The church is not only the embodiment of the passive 
graces and virtues, but of holy activities and aggressive 
forces. She is not only "clear as the sun and fair as the 
moon, but terrible as an army with banners." She has a 
warfare to wage ; a battle to fight ; a victory to gain ; a 
kingdom and throne to establish in the earth. 

Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and to 
restore this world to its rightful Sovereign. And it is his 
purpose to accomplish this through the church. " God hath 
chosen the weak things of this world to confound the 
mighty." " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou 
hast ordained strength, that thou mightest still the enemy 
and the avenger." " The kingdom and the greatness of the 
kingdom shall be given to the saints of the Most High, and 
they shall possess it forever." 

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." 
"Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel 
to every creature." And from that time to this there has 
been no cessation of hostilities. 

Truth and falsehood, sin and holiness, faith and unbelief, 
the church and the world, have maintained a ceaseless war- 
fare. But amid darkness and persecutions and apostasies, 
like the ark amid the surgings of the deluge,, the church has 
lived and will continue to live, until her warfare is accom- 
plished, the final victory gained, and " the kingdoms of this 
world shall have become the kingdom of our Lord and his 
Christ." 

The church in her feebleness must fight the battles of the 
Lord. " We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 
principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness in high 
places." The angels are not permitted to mingle in this 
sublime conflict. They can only encamp around the saints as 



238 A MEMORIAL OF 

spectators of the glorious struggle. Just as distant nations 
and peoples watched the American crisis with the most pro- 
found interest, because on its issue hung the hopes of free- 
dom for the world, so the angels watch the conflicts of the 
church, because thereon hangs the great issue of the divine 
sovereignty ; the supremacy of right over wrong, of truth 
and justice over error and sin. 

And so the very feebleness of the church reflects the 
divine glory. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." 
Even our impotence and dependence are elements of value, 
inasmuch as they constrain the enemies of God to say, "The 
Lord hath done great things for them." "Great is the 
Holy One of Israel in the midst of her." 

Yes, indeed. The very groans and struggles and prayers 
of the church ; her strong cryings and supplications ; her 
faith in opposition to discouragements ; her courage in oppo- 
sition to threatening dangers; her " hoping against hope " ; 
her invincible perseverance ; her tireless zeal ; her abundant 
labors ; her love waxing stronger and stronger amid perse- 
cutions, imprisonments, and deaths; these constitute a moral 
and spiritual capital that makes her " the riches of Christ's 
inheritance." 

Amid the flashing glory of the heavenly world, there is 
nothing which Christ regards with so much interest as his 
struggling church battling with the elements of sin; con- 
tending for the right and true ; " not counting her life dear 
to herself," and " rejoicing that she is counted worthy to 
suffer shame for his name's sake." There is a value in her 
poor sacrifices above the most costly offerings of the world ; 
a music in her prayers, and an eloquence in her tears and 
confessions, and an intensity in her love, to which the 
worship of angels forms no parallel. 

And it is this militant, missionary, aggressive element that 
constitutes her practical value. It is the constraining power 
of the love of Christ ; his grace, his Spirit incarnated in her 
"according to the in working of his mighty power," rising 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 239 

up for the conquest of the world, to make all nations obedi- 
ent to the faith, that constitutes her great practical value for 
the salvation of the world. " I am ready," says Paul, " not 
only to suffer but to die for his name's sake." Verily; the 
true church, led by a true ministry, has always been a mili- 
tant church, consecrated by the baptism of blood and suffer- 
ing to the work of salvation. 

In this service the labors and prayers of all are equally 
appreciated and honored. The small as well as the great ; 
the poor as well as the rich ; the ignorant as well as the 
learned ; the feeble as well as the strong ; all may labor 
" according as God has given to each the gift of faith " ; for 
" it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good 
pleasure. ' ' 

And we are assured that our labor shall not be "in vain in 
the Lord." Christ's inheritance in the saints takes in all 
classes, all conditions, all ages, all faith, all prayer, and all 
labor done for the name's sake of Jesus. The prayer of 
sighs, of broken utterances, of lisping childhood, and the 
confession of Christ from stammering lips, are of equal value 
with the most labored confessions of faith : the widow's 
mite with the costly benefactions of the rich. 

And therefore the history of the church has come down to 
us through tears and afflictions and crosses and deaths. If 
you look for the true church, you will find her in the wilder- 
ness ; hid in mountain gorges ; a poor and proscribed people 
afflicted and tormented; patiently enduring suffering; yet 
bravely and persistently vindicating the truth of God and 
the rights of conscience and worship. 

The church was with the Puritans in the Mayflower, 
exiled under the scourge of religious despotism. The church 
was with Roger Williams, when for the rights of conscience 
and freedom of soul-worship he fled to a sanctuary in the 
bosom of the savage tribes around the headwaters of Narra- 
gansett Bay. The church was with the Methodists under 
Whiteneld and Wesley, when in the face of the world's bitter 



240 A MEMORIAL OF 

scorn and scandal, they went forth with a burning love and 
consuming zeal to point the perishing multitudes to the 
Lamb. The church was with the Baptists of New England 
one hundred years ago, when they fought the battle of re- 
ligious liberty, and sundered the unholy alliance between 
Church and State. The church is with the Baptists of Ger- 
many at the present day, and with our little churches scat- 
tered throughout Prussia, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, France, 
Spain, and Italy, and with our rising churches of India, and 
throughout the world where the primitive power of the 
gospel lives in its divine simplicity. 

It is here that the real value of the church is found. Her 
worth is graduated not by worldly resources ; not by social 
standing ; not by intellectual elevation ; not by educational 
refinement and culture, but by the strength of her faith ; by 
the depth of her humility ; by the intensity of her zeal ; and 
by the consuming fervor of her devotion to Jesus Christ. 

And as these elements are possessed and nurtured and 
made fruitful, so will the church in any place increase in 
practical wealth and value. "Come up hither," said the 
angel to John, " and I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's 
wife." "And I saw the New Jerusalem coming down from 
God out of heaven, adorned as a bride for her husband." 
" Such honor have all his saints." 

Christ values his church more than she values herself, and 
it is his purpose to adorn her and beautify her and glorify 
her, and present her to himself "spotless and without blame 
before him in love." 

i. Let this subject then remind us of the special grace be- 
stowed on us in redemption. How strange that Christ 
should seek an inheritance in this fallen world, or that pass- 
ing by the bright ranks of pure and blessed spirits, he 
should find this dark world, and redeeming from thence a 
church by his death and blood, should take her back to 
heaven as the "riches of his inheritance." "Behold what 
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. " " Herein 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 241 

is love ; not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and 
gave his Son to die for us. ' ' This verily is the mystery of 
the gospel, that "when we were without strength, in due 
time Christ died for us." 

This is the distinguishing grace of the gospel, and herein 
is found its adaptation to a fallen race. If such a race be 
saved, the penalty of the law must be arrested ; they must be 
pardoned, justified, renovated, sanctified and made meet to 
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints. 

And this is what the gospel does. It brings salvation, not to 
the righteous, the moral, the educated, the refined alone ; but 
to the outcasts, and the victims of sin and crime and shame ; it 
arrested Saul, washed out his guilt, and sent him forth as an 
apostle of mercy and grace to a perishing world ; and from 
that time till his death Paul ceased not to proclaim : " It is 
a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners." It took John 
Newton, a vicious sailor, and made him a faithful minister of 
the grace of God, and gave him such a sweet experience of 
the preciousness of Christ, that he went through the world 
testifying and singing : 

" Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood 
Shall never lose its power." 

It took John Bunyan, a coarse, vulgar boy, and made him 
such a saint and pilgrim, that the record of his experience 
will to the end of time brighten the pathway of all succeeding 
pilgrims to glory. 

Christ took from his cross a criminal to paradise, and 
gathered his first church at Jerusalem from among his mur- 
derers, and enriched his "inheritance in the saints" from 
the corrupt cities of Rome and Corinth and Ephesus and 
Antioch and Samaria. 

At the bottom of a dark catalogue of degrading vices, Paul 

says : " And such were some of you ; but ye are washed ; ye 

are sanctified ; ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. " 

And in this way Christ is now enriching his inheritance. 

21 



242 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

Every year, every month, every week, every day, and every 
hour, he swells its wealth by the redemption of souls from the 
haunts of sin, from the hovels of wretchedness and want, 
from the darkness of ignorance and superstition, and from 
the children of bondage and toil. 

2. And let this subject indicate to us the spirit of a true 
Christianity, and the work it will assume to do. Its spirit is 
that of a yearning, loving sympathy for the sinful and per- 
ishing. It has "bowels of mercies." It weeps with Christ 
over Jerusalem ; with Paul it beseeches men to be reconciled 
to God. It is not a piety of the synagogue and the church 
alone ; much less of the polished circles of Christian refine- 
ment only. It is a piety of the streets and highways and 
hedges ; mingling with the children of want, to clothe the 
naked, to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to cleanse the 
filthy, to penetrate and cheer the foul atmosphere of sin with 
the sweet light of God's reconciling favor and love. 

It is this peculiar development of the gospel that the 
present crisis demands. The day is passing when the 
church can maintain her standing by splendid architecture 
and imposing forms of worship. The stirring activity of the 
various forms of unbelief pressing into their service the hu- 
manities of the gospel, is forcing Christianity from her cush- 
ioned indolence in the sanctuary into the street, and from the 
dull round of ecclesiastical service and the ritualism of de- 
nominational worship into the actual struggle of the Christian 
conflict. As things are, and are more and more to be, 
there is nothing for the church but to work or die. No 
compromise will avail. And I thank God that it is so. 

We must return to the simple faith of the gospel, and give 
ourselves to its primitive work of saving men, or God will 
take from us the vineyard and give it to others who will ren- 
der the fruit thereof in its season. An Episcopalian clergy- 
man once said to me : " The notes of a true church are that 
God is in the midst of her, and that souls through her faith 
and prayers and labors are brought to Christ." Yes, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 243 

verily, faith, work, and salvation are the notes of the true 
church. 

Some of you will remember that Dr. Warren said at a 
meeting of this body some years ago, that ' ' the Baptist 
church was born in the kitchen and cradled in the school- 
house," and that we must return to the kitchen and school- 
house, or we should soon have no Baptist church. 

And has it come to this, that the Baptist church in its 
purer and better type and spirit, is a thing of history, rather 
than of actual life and power? We retain the organism, the 
polity, the discipline, the baptism, the service, and the ritual 
of worship, but where is the cloud of the divine presence ? 
" Where is the Lord God of Elijah ? " Where is that mys- 
terious power we once held over the masses ? Where is that 
unction that made our ministry, all uncultured and untaught 
of the schools, yet " mighty through God to the pulling down 
of the strongholds of Satan ? ' ' Will it descend upon our 
ministry and membership no more ? 

Not a little is said at the present time about the decay of 
the pulpit, and its loss of popular power. But in my opinion, 
if the pulpit is decaying, it is because of its meretricious 
adornments, its simpering emulation of refinement, and litera- 
ture, and worldly wisdom, and "excellency of speech," and 
especially its dallying with "science falsely so called." 

The pulpit may lose its influence ; perhaps has done so ; 
but the gospel will forever remain "the power of God unto 
salvation." That will never decay; that will never grow 
old ; that will never become obsolete. What is wanted in 
the pulpit is the gospel in its naked simplicity ; in its una- 
dorned purity ; not only in its theological value, but in the 
spirit of its ministration ; downright earnestness, that shall 
constrain the conviction that the gospel is a true message 
from God. I enter no plea for an affected coarseness, much 
less for an affected or real ignorance ; as though knowledge 
were criminal, and vulgarity a virtue. But of the two evils, 
1 certainly prefer an honest bluntness, and even a sincere 



244 A MEMORIAL OF 

coarseness and a home-thrusting pungency, to that excessive 
refinement that goes into hysterics over a breach of grammar 
or pronunciation ? but which can tolerate any amount of 
heresy if but well written and elegantly spoken. 

Shut up the gospel in splendid cathedrals, where wealth 
and fashion come at best for an intellectual entertainment, 
and to while away the hours of the Sabbath, and however 
ably and honestly dispensed, the gospel is the feeblest of all 
mcral forces, and one for which the devil cares the least. 
But commit it to plain, earnest men, whose hearts glow with 
its love and are burdened with its messages to a lost world, 
and send its invitations into the highways and hedges, and 
"compel men," by the violence of a holy earnestness "to 
come in," and there will be no longer occasion to apolcgize 
for the pulpit's want of power. 

What is needed to give the gospel its' primitive success is 
"the power of God" upon the ministry and the entire 
church. Anything less than this is "the weakness of men," 
and will prove in the end a miserable failure. The impor- 
tunities of the church should ever turn to this point, that 
God would clothe his word with power. 

" Brethren," said Paul, " pray for us, that the word of the 
Lord may have free course and be glorified " ; " that utter- 
ance maybe given," — "that I may open my lips boldly, 
and speak as I ought to speak." O, power, power is what 
is needed in the pulpit and in all the sources of religious in- 
fluence. Whatever else we do not have, this we must have, 
and if we can only have it by returning to the humble shrines 
of our denominational nativity, then as Dr. Warren said, 
" to the schoolhouse and kitchen let us return." 

It were better to worship in log cabins, and even in the 
dens and caves of the earth, and have the presence of the 
Master and the comforts of the Holy Ghost, than in the most 
splendid temples with a form of godliness but without the 
power. We can do without architecture and eloquence and 
music, and all the modern apparatus of worship, but we can- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 245 

not do without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. We 
can afford to part with everything but the "simplicity of 
Christ." 

Never was the exhortation of Paul more befitting, "Be- 
ware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain 
deceit, after the rudiments of this world, and not after Christ." 
" Therefore, take to yourselves the whole armor of God, and 
having done all — stand." 

When some one asked Wellington what his plan of battle 
was, he replied, " No plan but to stand and fight." And so, 
drawing up his battalions in solid columns, they stood like a 
wall of living granite, against which the massed forces of 
Napoleon were hurled, only to be broken and destroyed. 
And this is God's message to us : " Having done all, stand." 
Maintain an unbroken front. "Hold fast the profession of 
your faith without wavering," to the end. 

In the battle of the Alma, the two armies, the allied forces 
on the north and the Russians strongly fortified on the south, 
lay facing each other for hours. At length the rank and file 
of the British soldiery became so impatient of this inaction, 
that they demanded to be allowed to charge upon the Rus- 
sian guns. As soon as Lord Raglan whispered the word 
"Advance," it ran through the lines like electricity, and 
they plunged into the Alma and surged up the opposite ranks 
into the very face of fire and death. They saw that the 
stand-still policy was defeat and ruin. It is so everywhere ; 
and nowhere more so than in religious interests and denomi- 
national responsibilities. 

" Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." 
Sometimes seamen find themselves swept far out of their 
course by the deceitful drift of unknown currents, and ere 
they are aware they are stranded upon some fatal reef or 
rocky coast. And is not this deceitful drift the danger of 
evangelical Christendom at the present time? We talk of 
the encroachments of Rome, and magnify the dangers of the 
papacy ; but our real danger is in this fatal drift toward the 



246 A MEMORIAL OF 

gulf of theological infidelity and ecclesiastical apostasy. 
When the exhortation to "contend earnestly for the faith 
once delivered to the saints" is proscribed as obsolete, and 
the faith itself is cancelled, and in the ecclesiastical relations 
especially is ruled out as a non-essential quantity, Rome will 
verily have an easy conquest. Against such superficial con- 
victions and effeminate types of piety as now prevail, there 
will be little need of the old severities of fagot and flame, 
and rack and torture, when some skillful change on the po- 
litical chess-board oy Jesuitical cunning may secure the same 
end without a struggle. But in that conflict, the shadows of 
which begin to darken around us, if as a denomination we 
would not be swept down, we must take timely warning, and 
tightening every inch of cordage and canvas, and lashing 
down every spar and hatchway, put our craft into the very 
teeth of the storm. 

Nothing will avail for that final struggle with Rome, but 
" the faith once delivered to the saints." A Jesuit made his 
boast to one whom he thought a brother Jesuit, that they 
could easily manage all the sects but the Scotch Presbyterians 
and the Baptists. He said these were " such invincible here- 
tics, they would have to burn them." Invincible heretics, 
verily ! So may they be to the end ! Old John Knox, by 
the power of faith and prayer, wrenched Scotland from the 
grasp of the papacy ; and the Baptists, from the days of the 
apostles till now, as Milton says,-, "are the only sect that has 
never symbolized with Rome." Is it not pitiful that at this 
late day any among us should be ambitious to take a depar- 
ture in that direction? We do not envy them either the 
beginning or the ending of their journey. " They went out 
from us because they were not of us." 

May God grant, that as Stillman and Baldwin in the great 
Unitarian apostasy " held fast the profession of their faith 
without wavering," and maintained the gospel in its severe 
purity and simplicity, and "kept the faith." the leaven of 
evangelical doctrine, for the regeneration of New England, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 247 

so the Baptist pulpit in these times of peril' for the truth, may 
be faithful to the precedents and rulings of its earlier minis- 
trations, and to the end stand fast in the faith, " Rooted and 
grounded and settled therein, and not easily moved away 
from the hope of the gospel." 



THE ORGANIC UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

A discourse delivered before the Board of the 
Connecticut Baptist Convention, at Middletown, 
Jan. 19, 1875, by Rev. A. G. Palmer, D. D. 
Printed by request in the " Watchman and Re- 
flector." 

John 17 : 21. — " That they may all be one." 

From the text and collateral passages, it is manifest that 
the unity of the church was an object of earnest desire with 
the Saviour. He knew its value and labored to secure its 
early development among his disciples. One fold for the 
many sheep ; one body for the many members ; one vine for 
the many branches ; these were the emblems he delighted to 
use to indicate the organic unity of his church, the vital one- 
ness between himself and people. " I in them, and thou in 
me, that they may be made perfect in one" — this was the 
burden of his unceasing intercession. And it would seem 
that the earnest desire of Christ for this unity as the central 
life force of his church, could not fail to commend it to the 
faith of his people, and to awaken in all their hearts kindred 
sympathies and importunities. And has it not done this ? 
What are the yearnings and strugglings of the Christian heart 
for the communion of saints and the unity of the church, but 
the working of Christ's power, the incarnation of his Spirit, 
the breathing out and offering up from the hearts and lips of 
his people evermore this catholic prayer of the Christian 
ages, " That they all may be one." 



248 A MEMORIAL OF 

[The preacher enlarges in his introduction on " the unity 
of the church as a radical idea of Christianity," insists that 
here "there is no chance for an accommodating eclecticism," 
and having glanced at the great multiplication of sects, he 
comes to the inquiry :] 

But how can a state of things so rife with schism and mis- 
rule harmonize with the prayer of our Lord, " That they all 
may be one ? ' ' 

I will reply, first it will be observed that the prayer of Christ 
had an immediate reference to his disciples as the then exist- 
ing church, and there can be no difficulty in finding it an- 
swered in them. They could affirm, there is one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism, one body, "even as ye are called in one 
hope of your calling." Whether at Jerusalem, or Corinth, 
or Ephesus, or Rome ; whether in Palestine, Greece, Italy, 
Gaul, or Britain, the Christian church was one body, her 
polity one, her ministry and ordinances the same. The 
apostolic church had the two prime elements of unity and 
catholicity. But if this prayer must be regarded as embrac- 
ing all generations of his people, still )ou will observe it 
must be interpreted of the church of the future, and not of 
the ungathered and unfolded herds of Christendom. " Other 
sheep," he says, " I have, which are not of this fold; them 
also must I bring, that there may be one fold and one shep- 
herd. I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou 
hast given me out of the world. Neither pray I for these 
alone, but for those who shall believe on me through their 
word. ' ' Thus carrying forward the organic unity of the church 
to the end of the world. 

Now as there is in the gospel an exclusive truth that can 
never mix or affiliate with error, a truth that must, like God 
himself, stand alone in its own absolute sovereignty, so there 
must be a true ecclesiasticism that can never become obso- 
lete ; perfect in itself, infallible, unchanging ; a. divine polity, 
that by its very simplicity shall make its discipline, and sac- 
raments, and ministry always and everywhere authoritative 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 249 

and so anticipate all possibilities of progress in intellectual 
and social culture as to render schism and sect forever with- 
out an apology. 

The church, not less than theology, must be one thing and 
not many things ; must have one organic structure, not va- 
rious and discordant types, as education or prejudice may 
decide. It is a favorite claim with our modern liberals and 
broad-church theorists that the Christians of any given place 
are the church of that place, and that too, without any re- 
gard to ministry, teaching, discipline, ordinances, or even 
worship, save as each one may enjoy the widest latitude of faith 
and practice. This may be an extreme outgrowth of pure 
Congregationalism ; but may it not be worthy of inquiry, if 
it be not natural and legitimate, the moral fruit of a naked 
independency ? A religious system is not to be judged so 
much by its earlier workings, modified as they must be by 
the educational forces of older, not to say more orthodox 
standards from which it has descended, as by its later results, 
and by its possibilities of decadence and apostasy. The 
departure of error from truth may at first be almost imper- 
ceptible, but soon becomes a wide and impassable heresy. 
You cannot precipitate the sects, with all their sharp antago- 
nisms, upon one basis, so that together they shall constitute 
the church of Christ in its organic, visible unity. 

Manifestly, either no one of the sects has the true ecclesi- 
astical polity, or one has it to the exclusion of the others. 
How then is this question to be decided ? . Rome clothes 
herself with authority, and makes her teaching decisive and 
final. She says, Come to me ; I hold the keys of the king- 
dom ; supreme authority has been entrusted to my hands, 
transmitted through an unbroken succession of bishops, 
from the primacy of Peter to the present venerable pontiff, 
and will continue my inalienable inheritance to the end of 
the world. And every sect in spirit does the same thing, so 
closely is the idea of authority bound up with the conception 
of a true ecclesiastidsm. The very assumption that any 



250 A MEMORIAL OF 

given sect has the truth constitutes a claim to infallibility, 
puts it in an attitude of authority; for truth has not only the 
right to rule, but is bound to assert and enforce that right. 
The gospel claims the obedience of all nations ; so Rome, 
ignoring all the sects, appoints her bishops for all the people ; 
and the Episcopal church, in a similar spirit of prelatical su- 
premacy, does the same thing. The rector of a small church, 
numbering a dozen communicants, claims a whole township 
made up of Congregationalists, Methodists, and Baptists, as 
his parish ; erring sheep, to be sure, but to be gathered as 
speedily as possible into the true fold. 

But where, then, shall we seek and find the church? 
Among the rottenness and corruption of Rome ? No ! At 
the hands of the English bishops, who attempted to remodel 
the church upon the historical data of the second and third 
centuries ? No ! Shall we look for it in the rushing torrents 
of the German Reformation ? No ! Shall we find it in the 
multitude of conflicting sects, each compassing sea and land 
to make one proselyte ? No ! Where, then, shall we look 
for this perfect organic development, this model church, 
with polity, sacraments, and teaching so authoritative as to 
command our unhesitating faith and obedience ? I answer, 
in the primitive church itself, founded by Christ, and under 
the ministry of inspired apostles guided into all truth. That 
church, in polity, doctrine, and ordinances, was infallible, and 
will so remain forever, and the record of its order, teaching, 
and example is to be found not in the second and third cen- 
turies, but in the first ; not in the traditions of the fathers, 
but in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the apostolic Epistles to 
the churches. The true church of Jesus Christ still lives in 
the New Testament, a distinct and beautiful model. There 
all its doctrines, ordinances, discipline, and modes of worship 
are plainly exhibited, a perfect draught, photographed by the 
unerring light of the Holy Spirit, and as easily transferred 
into the nineteenth century as the sacred architecture of the 
middle ages reappears in our own places of worship. We 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 251. 

can freely concede all that is claimed for the authority of the 
apostolic church ; more, all that is claimed for the primacy 
of Peter. Be it allowed that Christ gave him " the keys," 
and assured him that his rulings on earth should be ratified 
in heaven. I doubt not they were thus ratified, and will so 
remain forever. In the New Testament, the living word of 
God from the lips of inspired apostles, with its infallible 
tests of character, is still "opening" and ''shutting" the 
kingdom of heaven to men In this way the whole college 
of the apostles, with Peter at their head, still stand up, say- 
ing, "Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through 
this man's blood is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
sins." 

THE QUESTION OF SCHISM. 

We now come to the place where we can determine the 
question of heresy and schism. Heresy is a rejection or a 
corruption of the doctrines of the gospel ; schism is a sepa- 
ration from the church of the New Testament ; sect is a 
usurpation of ecclesiastical power and authority. These an- 
tagonisms to the true Christian doctrine and polity began to 
manifest themselves very early. Even in the time of the 
apostles there were those who separated themselves and 
wrested the Scriptures to their own destruction. Paul saw 
the rise of this anti-Christian element, and sought to guard the 
churches against its seductive workings and usurpations. 
He predicted its progress and culmination in a bloody per- 
secution that should " weary and wear out the saints," and 
compel the church to "flee into the wilderness, to be nour- 
ished for a season till the mystery of God should be finished." 

"After my departure," said he, "grievous wolves shall 
enter, not sparing the flock ; yea, of your own selves shall 
men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples 
after them." The fulfillment of these words was not long 
delayed. The earliest ecclesiastical authorities show that 
from the close of the apostolic age there was a rapid depar- 
ture from the simplicity of the gospel. Rites, forms, and 



252 A MEMORIAL OF 

ceremonies wholly unknown to the letter and spirit of the 
New Testament, were multiplied till the beautiful original of 
Christianity was lost in the prevailing apostasy. Yet there 
was, as ever, "a remnant left according to the election of 
grace," that " contended earnestly for the faith once deliv- 
ered to the saints," adhered to the simplicity of the gospel, 
and kept the ordinances as delivered unto them. They fled 
from the scourge of persecution, and, concealed in the de- 
files and fastnesses of the mountains, maintained the purity 
of the Christian doctrine, the authority of a true Christian 
polity, and the simplicity of a true Christian worship. When 
Luther opened the Scriptures, he not only learned the pre- 
cious doctrine of justification by faith, but found the pages 
of the New Testament everywhere radiant with the light of 
the primitive churches — a contrast of purity and beauty to 
the bloated arrogance and offensive corruption of Rome. 
Nevertheless, with all his courage, he hesitated to leap the 
chasm, and satisfied himself with an attempt to reform some 
of the grosser abuses of the " man of sin." 

So the English bishops, instead of going at once to the 
word of God as the only authority in Christian doctrine and 
polity, groped their way amid the dust and darkness of the 
second and third centuries, and sought to reconstruct the 
church upon a confessedly uninspired basis. 

In justification of this, it is claimed that the history of the 
second and third centuries is to be taken as an authoritative 
interpretation of the first ; and that the early fathers, the 
immediate successors of the apostles, are to be accredited as 
their unerring expounders, just as the earlier administrations 
of our government are regarded as the best exposition of 
the Federal Constitution. But this argument loses its plau- 
sibility when we remember that in the New Testament we 
have not simply a bill of ecclesiastical rights and constitutional 
abstractions, but the acts of a living church under the rulings 
and trainings of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief corner-stone." 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, 7>. D. 253 

A clergyman once said to me, that "the great evil of 
schism," meaning, of course, separation from the Episco- 
pacy, was ' ' that dissent had no fixed character ; it might be 
near the truth to-day, and widely false to-morrrow. Puri- 
tanism," he said, " like the rock on which it landed, had 
been hewed and scathed and chipped, until little of its 
primitive type was left." This may be so. It is not oui 
place to vindicate the Puritans; history will do them justice. 
We do not know that they claimed perfection of organiza- 
tion or doctrine. They held an open Bible, and said they 
were "waiting for more light "; a confession which, if in- 
dicative of an unsettled faith, was certainly modest and 
amiable. It is to be regretted, however, that when the 
"more light" came up, the Baptist movement of 1741, '42, 
and '43, they not only closed the " open Bible" and refused 
the " new light," but with an intolerance more proscriptive 
than that from which they fled, persecuted it even to banish- 
ment and exile. 

The charge, however, may be true. New England Con- 
gregationalism may have lost its identity — its sturdy, evan- 
gelical life ; and in its struggles with the intellectual growths 
and scientific changes of the centuries, it may run down into 
the frigid, lifeless dicta of a flexible and liberal theology, as 
there are but too many indications that it must. But what 
then ? We have the word of God left, and therein historically 
"drafted," with laws, doctrines, ministry, and ordinances 
complete, the church left. 

In this question of church building we prefer a higher an- 
tiquity than the Puritans, or Roger Williams, or the second 
century. In the place of " the Fathers," we take for our 
masters the apostles themselves, and from the dim and uncer- 
tain light of uninspired history, we turn to the clear, full 
light of God. 

We say that is the true church that is conformed to 
apostolic model, and that this church ought to be ecumeni- 
cal, and command the faith and fellowship of all Christians. 
22 



254 A MEMORIAL OF 

Can such a church be found ? Many think not. And if 
not, then the church has no corporate existence, and the 
promise of Christ that " the gates of hell should not prevail" 
has failed. This cannot be. We are to believe and affirm 
that as amid all corruption of doctrine Christ has always 
preserved the testimony of a pure faith, so amid all organic 
defections and decays he has maintained the corporate 
identity and unity of his church. 

PRIMITIVE ECCLESIASTICISM. 

But if this primitive ecclesiasticism survives, where is it to 
be found ? We reply, Where the divine polity of the " Great 
Commission " has been acknowledged and obeyed : " Go ye 
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature ; 
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." " Go teach 
all nations, baptizing them." This was specifically the or- 
ganic law of the church. The order was, preaching, believ- 
ing, baptizing, communing; the gospel, faith, baptism, 
fellowship ; the ministry, the disciples, the water, the 
church ; or, Christ, confession, and the kingdom ; and all 
church building, not according to this regnant succession, is 
schismatical and sectarian. But wherever you find the min- 
istry of the word, faith, baptism, and the Supper, there you 
have, by a vital reproduction, the holy, apostolic, catholic 
church. Revelation, belief, confession ; teaching, faith, 
baptism ; this was the trine foundation of the primitive 
church. 

It need scarcely be said that the " Acts of the Apostles," 
in the planting and training of the first churches, illustrate 
fully and confirm this argument. On the day of Pentecost, 
under Peter's sermon, " they that gladly received the word 
were baptized ; and the same day there were added unto 
them about three thousand souls." And wherever the gos- 
pel went, whether in Samaria, Antioch, Damascus, on the 
highway to Gaza, or at Philippi, this order was invariably 
regarded. As soon as disciples were made in any place, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 255 

they were "baptized, both men and women," and so the 
congregation of the Lord, or the local church, was estab- 
lished. And under this law, churches in a few years were 
gathered in Palestine, and in all the principal cities of 
Greece, and then soon in Europe and all the known world. 
" So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." 

A church of baptized believers is invincible. Such a 
church may be in the conflict ; indeed, must be ; but can- 
not be seduced or vanquished. The one Lord, the one faith, 
the one baptism, are incorruptible and indestructible. " Know 
ye not that as many of you as have been baptized into 
Christ have put on Christ ? Therefore we are buried with 
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up 
from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should 
walk in newness of life." 

I remember hearing Dr. Poor some years ago say that " in 
forming churches among the heathen, they had to form them 
of baptized believers only." "It was," he said, " the logic 
of circumstances, the same as controlled the formation of 
the first churches by the apostles." And I thought, "Ver- 
ily," and felt like saying as the English do, " Hear! hear/' 1 

It was intensely this logic of circumstances that Jonathan 
Edwards felt when he struck down the " half-way covenant," 
and labored to purge his church from the immoralities and 
impieties with which he found it overrun. Strange that a 
mind so logical as his did not see that the source of this de- 
generacy lay back of the half-way covenant, in " infant bap- 
tism," and that if the communion within the church should 
be guarded by a personal faith and a " truly regenerate 
state," much more baptism, as the door into the church, 
should be so guarded. What a perversion, to give baptism 
— the confession of the faith — to infancy, when faith is an 
impossibility. 

All honor to Jonathan Edwards ! He did a greater, 
nobler, and better work than he intended. His zeal for the 
purity of the Lord's table, and his " ictic theology," as it 



256 A MEMORIAL OF 

has been stigmatized, meaning, I suppose, the theology of 
sudden and marvelous conversion, as illustrated in the 
"great revival," — all this found a response in the strong 
common sense of the New England mind, and " was the oc- 
casion," as Backus says, "of the rapid spread of Baptist 
principles and sentiments about* this time." " The subjects 
of that work," he continues, " embraced two ideas," a great 
gain for that day in the realm of ecclesiastical thought. The 
first was, that saving faith is necessary to give any soul a true 
right to communion in the church of God. Secondly, that 
there is no warrant for a half-way covenant therein, and, as 
infants are generally in a state of nature when they are said 
to be brought into covenant, infant baptism expires before 
these principles. 

BAPTIST CHURCHES. 

Is it not marvelous that synchronizing with this movement 
and with the advent of convictions and reasonings of this 
kind, Baptist churches should have suddenly sprung up all 
over the land, and that the "sect everywhere spoken 
against " began to command the popular, regard, and to take 
on strength for aggression and conquest.. Perhaps if Ed- 
wards could have foreseen the remote results of those sturdy 
blows he was striking against the foundations of New England 
Congregationalism, he might have paused in his work. But 
the blow once struck, the word once spoken, the logic once 
out could not be recalled. " The people heard the word, 
and great was the company that published it." The com- 
mon people received it gladly, and, like the disciples of old, 
went everywhere as self-appointed missionaries of this new 
evangel of ecclesiastical light and liberty, "God working 
with them by signs and wonders," and " much people were 
added to the Lord." 

And how now, after a century and a half, do the books 
stand, as written up to this date of 1875 ? On the one side 
we have Edwards driven from his parish and exiled to a 
small missionary station among the Indians, as Williams had 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 257 

been before him ; and on the other side we have in these 
United States a church of baptized believers with a member- 
ship of some seventeen hundred thousand, and an annual 
gain by baptism, for the year just closed, of thousands to 
their numbers. The faithful laborers, who had toiled so 
long amidst so many difficulties, and waited so patiently, as 
they look down upon the fruit of their labors, must be pro- 
foundly satisfied therewith, and unite in saying, " Not unto 
us ; not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name be the praise 
and the glory forever. ' ' 

PRIMITIVE TRUTH. 

The heathen said of Israel, after a signal deliverance, 
"The Lord hath done great things for them"; and Israel 
replied, " The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof 
we are glad." And we may to-day, in view of what God 
hath wrought for us, and through us, and by us, for his 
name's sake and glory, say, "Glory be to the Father, and 
to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost." And we may also add, 
"As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, 
world without end. Amen." Which, being interpreted, 
means, I suppose, in New Testament language, "Let us hold 
fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end, 
and the profession of our faith without wavering." "I 
write unto you no new commandment," — no new departure 
— " but the old commandment which ye have heard from 
the beginning." "Go ye into all the world and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and lo, I am with you al- 
way, even to the end of the world." 

Thus far I have considered the question of an outward 
organic union only, and I have dwelt the longer on this 
because it is a very common claim that the Scriptures do not 
affirm this view at all ; that organization and polity are not 
matters of authority, but of circumstances and convenience ; 
that the ordinances, baptism especially, are to be catalogued 



258 4 MEMORIAL OF 

on the wide margin of " non-essentials." This is the pop- 
ular or " broad church " view. 

A Congregational minister said to a lady — a Baptist 
whom he was anxious to take into his communion, " O, if 
the form is of any consequence, of course immersion is the 
primitive mode." Of course it is. So Dr. Judson discov- 
ered, and acknowledged as soon as he discovered it. So 
Baptist W. Noel, after an honest, prayerful investigation, 
discovered and acknowledged as soon as he reached the con- 
viction that believers are the only scriptural subjects of bap- 
tism, and that the only baptism known in the New Testament 
is immersion'. And with these agree the ripest scholarship 
of the age. I believe that the Scriptures definitely affirm 
one, and only one, church polity, and that they strongly en- 
force the visible unity of the church of God. "There is 
one body, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, 
one Lord, one faith, one baptism." 

If the Christian faith and hope be one, so with equal au- 
thority the church is one. If I regarded the church to which 
I belong as " a sect," and not as the true apostolic church 
of Christ, divinely constituted, divinely endowed, and di- 
vinely empowered, in faith, doctrine, ordinances, ministry, 
and government conformed to the primitive model, I would 
not remain in its communion another day, nor offer another 
prayer for its enlargement and prosperity. I am not a Bap- 
tist simply from education ; certainly not from interest or 
convenience. Be assured, if I suspected myself not in "the 
church" I should be ill at ease, anxious to find it, and in 
haste to enter it. I may indeed be mistaken, as I assume 
that others are ; but, with my present conviction, I must 
maintain and defend the authority of my church relations. 
I do not claim that we have ail the truth, or that our polity 
is perfectly developed ; certainly not in matters of practical 
detail. Like the Puritans, we "hold an open Bible and are 
waiting for more light." But I do claim that in the radical 
elements of organization, polity, doctrine, discipline, and or- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 259 

dinances, and also in the forms and spirit of Christian wor- 
ship, Baptist churches are the veritable successors oi the 
churches founded by the apostles. 

The picture which a distinguished French historian draws 
of the primitive churches answers to the Baptist churches of 
America, as the photograph to the object. He says : " Bap- 
tism, which was administered by immersion, was the sign of 
admission into the church. The convert was plunged be- 
neath the water, and he rose from it to be received by ' the 
laying on of hands.' Faith was the requisite of every can- 
didate for baptism." The idea of faith in the primitive 
church was in harmony with its general constitution. Based 
upon living faith, this church was an association of Christians 
working together for their own edification and the evangeli- 
zation of the world. Thus we have in the first century a 
true Christianity based upon a common faith — -one Lord, 
one faith, one baptism. One body. And have we not the 
same in the nineteenth century in the Baptist churches of 
these United States? If any say no, let the unlikeness be 
shown. 

NOT UNCHARITABLE. 

It is a significant fact in this connection that the first re- 
formed churches of Mexico, made up of persons who had 
left the Roman Catholic church and taken the New Testa- 
ment for their guide, were essentially Baptists. 

If it be said that the view taken in this discourse is exclu- 
sive and uncharitable, I admit the exclusiveness, but deny 
the uncharitableness. Truth must be exclusive toward error. 
I honor the high claims of Rome and the Episcopacy — I 
even honor their exclusiveness. I have far more fellowship 
with it than with the licentious liberalism which is opening 
upon our churches the flood-gates of error. 

An Episcopal clergyman said to me lately: ''I like the 
Baptists best of all the sects. I like them," said he, "for 
three things : They believe something ; they know what they 
believe ; and they defend their faith lustily. ' ' An Episcopal 



260 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

bishop at the dinner table was speaking pleasantly of the 
number that came to their ministry from other churches. I 
asked, "And do you have many from the Baptist ranks?" 
"Very few," he said ; "and those who do come are poor 
dogs ; for a Baptist who knows why he is a Baptist, will stick 
to his own church." We commend this severe but candid 
and just repartee to all whom it concerns. I can and do re- 
spect the conscientious convictions of others, and all the 
more for their fidelity to the same. But I must respect my 
own faith, and be true to my own understanding of the 
teachings and rulings of the word of God. Is there, then, 
no room for Christian liberty ? Of course there is ; for the 
right of conviction we claim for ourselves we cheerfully ac- 
cord to others. We only ask to be allowed, without the 
scandal of bigotry and narrowness, to maintain the line of 
truth as we understand it, and to "give a reason for the 
hope that is in us." 

There is a spiritual union, the fruit of evangelical experi- 
ence, common to Christianity wherever found. In this sense 
all true Christians are one. Let A Kempis, Paschal, Luther, 
Calvin, Howe, Baxter, Leighton, Scott, Whitefield, Wesley, 
Bunyan, Gill, Fuller, Ryland, Hall, and kindred representa- 
tive names of our own day, meet and talk of the love of 
Christ ; they will be found so perfectly joined in one mind, 
and spirit, and voice, that the world will be constrained to 
say, "Behold how these Christians love one another." 
" Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to 
dwell together in unity." I despise all narrow, clannish big- 
otry, and I hold an open heart and hand to the faith of Jesus 
everywhere. The law of my Christian fellowship has ever 
been, is, and by the grace of God shall be, that of Paul, 
" Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sin- 
cerity." 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 261 

XIX. 

SERMONS. 



NOT FOR JESUS' SAKE ONLY. 

John 12 : 9. — " Much people of the Jews therefore, knew he was there ; and they 
Came not for Jesus' sake omy, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had 
raised from the dead " 

The history of this passage you will at once recall. Jesus 
was at Bethany. He had raised Lazarus from the dead. 
And many, therefore, visited Bethany, " not for Jesus' sake 
only," but that they might also see Lazarus. It was not that 
Jesus was there as the Messiah, the Christ, the prophet of 
Israel, that they left Jerusalem, and thronged to the quiet 
hamlet of Bethany, but because their credulity, their curios- 
ity had been excited by the report that a dead man had been 
brought back to life. It is not intimated that they had no 
regard for Christ. It is inferred they had such, regard; but 
the ruling motive was not that they might see and hear Jesus 
himself, but that they might see a man who had been dead 
and was alive again. We can understand their motive. 

The evangelist does not complain of this. He states it as 
a simple historical fact, showing with that beautiful sim- 
plicity, for which the Gospels are distinguished, that the 
popularity of Jesus even was somewhat adventitious. Some 
followed him attracted by the sublimity of his miracles, some 
by a selfish regard for the "loaves and the fishes," and a 
few from a deep and pervading love for and faith in him, in 
his divine character as the Son of God and Saviour of men. 

And is there not reason to fear that this distinction still 
his followers. Many now go to Bethany 



262 A MEMORIAL OF 

"not for Jesus' sake only." In their Christian relations 
and actions, they are not controlled by an exclusive regard 
for Christ, his person, his work, his character, his author- 
ity. Let this simple negative view engage our thoughts. I 
suggest that it is eminently worthy of our regard because it 
involves radical elements of Christian character. 

"Not for Jesus' sake only." Here are five small words. 
They scarcely form a sentence, and yet so searching are they 
that they encover the concealed forces of character, and dis- 
criminate between the seeming and the real, between the 
true and the false, between the dross and the pure gold. Let 
us for this occasion, cancel the " not," and make the phrase, 
"for Jesus' sake only," the theme of our thoughts and dis- 
course to-day. 

In this accidental phrase is found the germ of all godliness, 
the root of all holy vitality, the law of all true faith, and 
the inspiration of all true Christian experiences. Whatever 
is not done for Jesus' sake only is not well and rightly 
done. Our religion is true or false as an exclusive and 
supreme regard for Christ sanctifies or fails to sanctify the 
whole. And if this be so, if nothing but love to Christ be 
reliable, if all outside of this, however seeming, be but dross, 
how important we should know for what purpose we go to 
Bethany ; whether for Jesus' sake only, or from curiosity, or 
whether the love of the marvelous takes us there. 

Let us, therefore, consider this subject more specifically : 

i. Are we then religious for Jesus' sake only? Religion 
is a mother of motive and purpose. Character is the out- 
growth of principle. The value of our deeds is not so much 
in their material, as in their underlying spirit, the motive from 
which they spring, the end to which they look. If the 
motive be holy, the act is holy, even though the material be 
poor and worthless. And if the motive be unholy, the deed 
will be unholy, even though the material be rich and costly. 
After the highest type of legal completeness, God has more re- 
gard to quality than to quantity, and values spirit above matter 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 263 

It is true, we are to judge men by their fruits. But since 
a fruit may be fair to the sight, while crude and sour, or have 
decay and rottenness at the core, so a fair outward obedience 
may be full of inward rottenness and spiritual decay. How 
much of what passes current for piety and religion, is often 
all adventitious and circumstantial, the manifest working of 
selfishness, the result of mere animal impulses and sympa- 
thies. It is at best a piety of form, a religion of ceremony, 
the fruit of education and culture. At most, a religion of 
the church, a sanctified habit, often, as in the case of the 
Bethany crowds, purely sensational, the naked expression of 
a morbid curiosity. We gq to Bethany, but not for Jesus' 
sake only. 

Now, why are we religious at all ? Why are we at Bethany? 
It has been said that man is naturally religious, and in a 
sense this is true. Man has a religious nature and constitu- 
tion, or rather a religious susceptibility, answering to his 
relations to God as his Creator and Father. He was made 
in the image of God. He has the religious capacity. 
If ignorant of God, yet he can be made acquainted with 
God. Unlike the brute, he is capable of the idea of God 
and worship. But while naturally religious, he has not by- 
nature spiritual life ; he is not by nature Christian. Human 
nature is dead in trespasses and sins, alienated from the life 
of God in the soul. In his natural state, man is Christless. 
Whether in the gross darkness of heathenism, or under the 
full light of a divine revelation, in his natural state, man 
is estranged from Christ, and destitute of salvation. The 
carnal mind is enmity to God, not subject to his law, and 
cannot be until the Spirit writes that law in his heart. The 
true Light is in the world and shineth in darkness, but the 
darkness comprehendeth it not. And in proportion as Christ 
in his true church, and the gospel as a revelation of truth 
and grace, press their claims with authority, in that propor- 
tion will they be resisted, and the latent elements of deprav- 
ity be stirred and excited. Man is naturally religious, but 
not naturally Christian. 



264 A MEMORIAL OF 

The wild Indian is a religious being in his way. The 
ignorant and imbruted Esquimaux are the same, after their 
sort. When the missionary dwelt upon the greatness and 
the power of God, they listened with haughty indifference. 
They replied : " You have come a great way to tell us what 
we have always known." They declared that if Ci it required 
human intelligence to form a canoe, do you think we cannot 
see that an infinite intelligence and power only could lay the 
foundations of the earth, and spread abroad the heavens? 
If this is all you have to tell us, you had better return to 
your homes." But when the missionary began to preach 
Christ and him crucified, as an* expiation for sin ; when he 
told them, " that God so loved the world that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might 
not perish but have everlasting life" ; and then to show 
them by the cross the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the 
criminality of unbelief, they became sullen, moody, and 
thoughtful. At length under the power of the Holy Ghost, 
they became penitent, believing, and loving ; clothed in 
their right minds, sitting at the feet of Jesus. 

Men are Christians only as they are created anew in Christ 
Jesus. I once heard the distinguished Orestes Bronson say, 
while attempting to excite the hopes of Roman Catholics 
for the conversion of America to the papacy, " that the great 
American heart was Christian." I thought at first he had 
been betrayed into one of his old Unitarian forms of speech. 
But I soon discovered that he simply meant that the American 
heart craved some kind of religion, and preferred a Christianity 
of rites and ceremonies, of forms and creeds, to the simple 
faith and naked culture of Prostestantism. And this is no 
doubt true. As a simple external service, Catholicism has been 
shrewdly adjusted to the appetites and cravings of the carnal 
hearts. Men do not object to worship in its outward attrac- 
tions and forms. Men will go to Bethany, or Rome ; syna- 
gogue, or chapel, or cathedral, if there be anything that 
appeals to a natural credulity. But when you come with a 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 265 

simple gospel, demanding repentance, faith, and baptism, for 
Jesus' sake only, from a pure regard to his name and author- 
ity, how few will yield to your claim. They will go to 
Bethany — but not for Jesus' sake only. 

What then is the nature of our faith, the spirit of our obe- 
dience ? Is it adventitious, circumstantial, educational, spec- 
ulative, emotional ? Or is it out of a pure love to him, and 
with a simple reliance on him? Is it for Jesus' sake alone? 

2. But let us pursue this inquiry still further. Is our 
faith for Jesus' sake only ? Or has it an exclusive reference 
to him, and does it rest supremely in him, as the only foun- 
dation of our hope and confidence? You answer, "Yes." 
You believe. And believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the one 
foretold, and what the Scriptures declare him to be. But I 
mean something more than a mere historical faith. " The 
devils believe — and tremble." I mean trust, reliance, de- 
pendence, and such trust, reliance, dependence as leads us to 
commit our souls to him for salvation. Is our trust for salva- 
tion in him alone ? Do we rest in him — in his word as our 
guide, in his Spirit as our sanctifier, and in his precious 
blood as our ransom, and in no other, and in nothng other ? 

This is the real question, and it is a question of momen- 
tous import to each one of us. Most men in a Christian 
community believe in Christ after some sort. But there is 
but one kind of faith that is saving. This is the point 
around which the human heart "forever struggles. Here all 
the forces of unsanctified nature are marshaled in sharp con- 
flict with truth. Here all the great battles between sin and 
holiness ; a false and a true faith ; the gospel of the blessed 
God and the philosophies of the world ; condemnation and 
justification ; in a word, the conflict between light and dark- 
ness, life and death, are constantly arrayed and maintained. 
The battle is always set in array and decided upon this line. 
Even where there is much true Christian experience, there is 
an unceasing conflict here. Nature is forever looking for 
another Saviour than Christ. Claiming something of its 
23 



266 A MEMORIAL OF 

own — seeking to mix its own righteousness with the finished 
work of the great atoning sacrifice. 

There is nothing from which Satan strives so hard and so 
constantly to turn away the mind, as from the completed re- 
demption of the cross. He will allow you to be pious, very 
pious ; to go to Bethany as often as you please, providing 
you will give more heed to Lazarus than to Jesus. You 
can be orthodox, Papist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Meth- 
odist, Baptist, anything, everything, except to trust Christ, 
wholly and alone ; except to make him final and supreme, 
your wisdom, sanctification, and redemption. To leave all 
and follow Christ alone, would make you such a Christian 
as Satan would prefer you should not be. With some kinds 
of professing Christians he has no very great controversy ; 
but this sort he cannot away with. 

This spiritual visiting of Bethany touches the questions of 
faith, and hope, and trust, for, 

My hope is built on nothing less, 
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 
Jesus, to thy dear wounds I fly, 
Cleanse thou my stains of deepest dye ; 
O Lamb of God, for sinners slain, 
Wash thou away my crimson stain. 

3. And now one more question. Is this rule the measure 
and gauge of our affections and our attachments ? Of our 
ecclesiastical preferences and relations? 

We respect religion and its ordinances. But so also do 
the devotees of superstition and false religions. They rev- 
erence their sacred places with an intensity of devotion 
worthy of a purer faith. It is not uncommon for persons 
from secular or social motives to become identified with 
some of the more popular sections of the Christian church. 
It may be a matter of interest, of business, or of social posi- 
tion exclusively. In portions of Europe, a person cannot 
hold office, or obtain a license to sell intoxicating drinks, or 
keep a gambling saloon, or receive still more degrading im- 






ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 267 

munities, unless he has been christened in infancy, and is a 
member of the national church. And even where the Spirit's 
claims, and the Gospels are understood and acknowledged, 
there is reason to fear that Christ has often a secondary place 
in church relations and preferences. There has been, and 
still is, a great deil of idolizing the church, at the expense 
of her divine and glorious Head. Many will make long and 
wearisome pilgrimages to sacred places, kneel in the holy 
sepulchre and worship at a cross, who know nothing of the 
atonement which the cross symbolizes as the only way of our 
acceptance with God. 

But it matters not how much zeal and devotion we may 
have, if they do not find their spring and inspiration in the 
faith and love of Christ. Indeed, the most ruinous and in- 
curable heresies are those which spring from the outward 
attractions of religion, the adornments of the service, the 
pride of architecture, the flowing drapery, the tinsel and 
glitter of the ritual and the ceremony. Even our attach- 
ment to the church is only right as we love the church for 
Jesus' sake, who dwells in it, and whose body it is. 

When John, under the flashing radiance of his celestial 
guide fell down at his feet in adoration, the angel cried out, 
" See thou do it not; worship God !" And do we not need 
to have written upon the walls of our sanctuaries the admo- 
nition, "Worship God"; especially in this materialistic 
and sensuous age, when men walk by sight and sound, more 
than by faith. Oh, if ceilings could speak, and stained 
glass and altar could speak, would they not repeat the angel's 
rebuke and say, "Worship God?" Indeed, I think the wor- 
ship of the old idolaters, the adoration of sun, and moon, 
and stars, with all the hosts of heaven, was pure orthodoxy 
when compared with the modern worship of wood, and 
brick, and stone — of arch, and cornice, and ceiling, and 
dome, and towers ; when compared with the worship of pul- 
pit and orchestra, and with some of the assumptive, heart- 
less, meretricious oratory of these degenerate days. It mat- 



268 A MEMORIAL OF 

ters not what we worship, if we do not worship God in 
Christ — if we do not reach the Father through the Son. 

4. And now, finally, let us test our obedience by this 
rule : The apostle says, " Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," 
and " Whatsoever ye do, whether in word or deed, do all to 
the glory of God." Whether ye eat or drink, buy or sell, 
rejoice or weep. This is very comprehensive and inclusive. 
It lays its authority upon our entire activities. It says that 
every act shall be under one ruling, one law ; life shall be 
bound to one end, and ruled by one principle — the faith of 
Christ, the glory of God. If we go to Bethany, we must go 
for Jesus' sake on/y. It shuts us up to one rule of faith, and 
life, and worship. 

But do not men everywhere act under one law? They 
may seem to live for many ends — wealth, reputation, pleasure, 
knowledge, culture. But one law underlies all these varied ac- 
tivities, and that is self-love, self-interest, self-exaltation, self- 
worship ; self is everywhere the deity of this world, the idol 
of the natural, human heart. Men labor, toil, suffer, sacri- 
fice for self. This is sin. This is the apostasy. The law 
of God says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," 
and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." It puts 
God before self, Jesus before Lazarus. This law, so severe, 
does not take you out of the world, out of society, out of 
the family ; it leaves a man in his workshop, on his farm, in 
his store ; but it sets God before him, at his right hand, as 
David did, and says : " See God always, and make his glory 
the end of all you do." 

" Lo, I am with you always," is the divine assurance. 
Always, and in every place ; in cathedral and cabin, on the 
house-top or in the " secret closet, on land or sea, in the 
crowded city or in the wilderness. The Bethany we seek 
may be on Olivet, or on Africa's burning sands ; if in sim- 
ple faith, and with an honest heart we seek Jesus, we shall 
find him, shall find him because he is ever with the pure in 
heart. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 269 

You have some regard for the Sabbath. Why ? Is it to 
you the Lord's Day? The day of his resurrection, whose 
rising filled the valley of death with the radiance of im- 
mortality ? You believe in baptism. Why ? Is it because 
therein we are buried with him, and into the likeness of his 
death? You reverence the Lord's Supper. Why? Is it 
because he said, "This is my body, broken for you?" 
" This cup is the new covenant in my blood ? " " This do 
in remembrance of me?" You have some regard for the 
preaching of the gospel, some interest in the ministrations 
of the sanctuary. How is that interest measured ? What 
kind of preaching do you like best? That which comes 
commended by eloquence, and rhetoric, and poetry, and 
philosophy, and science, and the wisdom which man's words 
teach? Or that which presents the gospel naked and un- 
adorned — Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of 
God? If called to choose between the ministry of a culti- 
vated mind, and an attractive address, without the gospel, 
and the teaching of some plain and humble minister, know- 
ing nothing but Christ and him crucified, which would you 
choose ? Not from cold calculation and a sense of duty, but 
from a spiritual and evangelical taste, and an affectionate 
preference for the one or the other ? 

Do you love the gospel stripped of its adornment ? The 
naked cross, for the sake of him who died thereon? If 
called to choose between the splendor and fashion of an at- 
tractive worldly worship, and the poverty and humility of 
the gospel, which would you choose ? Not from a sense of 
duty only, but from the spiritual relishment of faith and 
love ? Suppose the Baptist church, as in former times, was 
found only in secret places, in private rooms and school- 
houses ; would you still honor it, and seek the communion 
and fellowship of its services, "for Jesus' sake only?" 
Were the Baptist churches now, as once they were, made 
up of the poor — Christ's poor— would you still prefer their 
fellowship of poverty, to a fellowship of worldliness and 



270 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

wealth, where Christ and his word are not ? What if perse- 
cution should come, and the worship of God be exiled from 
the favor, and taste, and social alliances with which it is 
now almost everywhere asssociated ? How many would 
brave the reproach of the world, and maintain their faith, 
for Jesus' sake only ! Well, I am aware that no one can an- 
swer these questions, now and here, as they would in the 
midst of such tests and trials as are now suggested. But it 
is good to try the heart and conscience by even an imaginary 
test. And this is the rule and test, " For Jesus' sake only." 

Nothing in religion is true that does not find its life here. 
What are sermons, praises, prayers, works, charities, profes- 
sions, if not done for Jesus' sake only? Even though we 
speak with the tongue of men or of angels ? Even though 
I give my goods to feed the poor, and my body to be 
burned, what profiteth 77ie — it may profit others — if my love 
to Christ be not supreme ? But a cup of cold water, given 
in the name of a disciple, and for Jesus' sake, shall not lose 
its reward. How little religion of this type is apparent, and 
yet here is the divine rule which cannot be changed or abro- 
gated. All outside of this is but an empty and worthless 
mannerism, a pretense of religion. But the man who can 
say, this I do for Jesus' sake only, will do all he can, and 
continue to do it so long as life shall last. His religion will 
stand adversity, and it will endure prosperity, often a sorer 
trial to piety than is adversity. It will stand the storm and 
the calm, poverty and wealth. The fires cannot burn it, 
nor the floods overflow it. 

When this principle rules in a church, there is nothing 
that needs to be done that cannot be done, and rightly, 
and timely, and cheerfully done. And this is the way to 
grow in grace. Oh, if ministers could write upon every ser- 
mon, "Preached for Jesus' sake only," and if churches 
could write upon every investment, on all securities, all in- 
crease of capital, all bank stock, every day's labor, "For Jesus' 
sake only," what a power would Christian life become, what 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 271 

a mighty moral force would Christian churches be in the 
world. Then indeed, would their poverty abound to the riches 
of their liberality. Then too, the word of the Lord would 
sound out to all the ends of the earth. Make this the law of 
worship, and of Christian service everywhere, in the sanc- 
tuary, the Sunday-school, the prayer meeting, and soon the 
peace of Zion would be like a river, and her righteousness 
like the waves of the sea. Then should the kingdoms of 
this world speedily become the kingdoms of our Lord and 
of his Christ. 

Jesus, I my cross have taken, 
All to leave and follow thee. 

Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 
Thou henceforth my all shall be. 



THE POWER OF AN ENDLESS LIFE. 

John 7 : 16 — " Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after 
the power of an endless life." 

The aspostle, in this connection, is arguing the superiority 
of the gospel dispensation to that of Moses. It was a living 
question then, and holds a large place in all the Epistles. It 
was the great theological question of that day, and one of vital 
moment to the Jewish converts. The Jewish priesthood was 
changeable, because it was mortal. Its priests could not con- 
tinue, because of death. Therefore, while the office was per- 
manent, the priest was liable at any time to be removed, and 
another elected to fill his place. But Christ, because he 
"ever liveth," hath an unchangeable priesthood. There- 
fore, he is able to save unto the uttermost. " I am he that 
died, and behold I live again, and have the keys of death, 
and of hades." On down the ages, through generations and 
centuries, he lives and fills his priestly office, and presents an 
eternal sacrifice for all who came to God through him. He 
entered into the most holy place, even into heaven itself, 



272 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

once for all, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He 
holds the power of an endless life, in that he died and rose 
again. Death hath no more dominion over him. Can you 
conceive the calamity, if Christ could die and his priest- 
hood fail ? In the nature of the case there could be no 
successor. 

But I wish to dwell on the mighty thought involved in 
the expression, "The power of an endless life," and see, if 
possible, in what that power consists. 

i. It is not simply endless existence. A stone, or clod of 
earth, may have existed for millions of ages, so far as we 
know. But, aside from the act of creation, there is no 
embodiment or suggestion of power in them. A stone 
tossed into the air returns to the earth again, but by no 
inherent power of its own. Its downward movement is the 
result of a certain natural quality of dead matter which we 
call gravitation. But so soon as you come to life, even in 
its lowest forms in the vegetable world, there is a mani- 
festation of vital force, and the development of power. 
And in proportion to the duration of life will be the ex- 
penditure of force, the exhibition of power. The life of 
every plant, from the most delicate form in your garden to 
the giant trees of the forest, involves a specific amount of 
power, which can be estimated, measured, and registered. 
There is a force at work in all the vegetable kingdom, lifting 
up the vegetation with which the earth is clothed as with a 
garment of beauty, from the flowerage of the fields to the 
mighty forests, which cover with their shade the mountains 
and the plains. 

What is that power ? Who can tell ? There is but one 
answer, and that is not an explanation, but only the simple 
statement of a fact, which leaves the mystery as profound as 
ever. It is the power of life. Life, working amidst the 
subtle elements of matter, working silently and invisibly, but 
mightily and constantly, through day and night, through 
heat and cold, with an unflagging energy and an unfaltering 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 273 

purpose. What this life is, we do not know. We see its 
effects in ten thousand forms of beauty, but the life itself we 
do not see. We see the plants, the flower, the tree, but the 
life that makes them, the energy that throbs and pulsates in 
them, is too subtle to be detected by the most powerful micro- 
scope, or the most searching chemical analysis. Go into 
one of our manufactories. You see on every hand the evi- 
dence of power. But the power itself you do not see. The 
moving energy is hidden from your sight. Thus, what the 
power of life is, what the force that opens the rose bud, that 
lifts the branches of the oak to heaven, we cannot tell. Some 
forms of vegetable life are very frail and transient. They 
continue but a little time, a month, a week, a day, or an 
hour. From whence comes the transient life, or whither it 
vanishes, no man knows. Other forms, like forest trees, 
have a tenacity that holds on through ages and centuries. 
Try to estimate the amount of vital force in one of those old 
patriarchs of the forest. There it has stood a living thing, 
a thousand years old when America was discovered, a thous^ 
and years old when Columbus first touched these shores, 
when Cortez first saw the palaces of the Montezumas, when 
Balboa, from the heights of the Andes, looked down upon 
the placid waters of the Pacific Ocean. There it has stood 
in its place, rooied to the everlasting hills, battling with the 
elements, defying the tornadoes and the earthquakes, con- 
tending for existence, fighting for the right to be and to 
live through the sweep of ages. And there it may stand for 
ages yet to come. I do not wonder that the superstitious have 
been inclined to invest these grand old trees with a kind of 
divinity, and to worship in their venerable shade. I dwell 
upon these illustrations to enable you the better to gain some 
idea of this thought — the power of an endless life. 

And now I wish to emphasize the thought that it is the 
power of an endless human life, the endless life of the 
human soul, which this sentence involves. Immortality, 
the life everlasting, in which consists its power. It is a vast 



274 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

thought. And the conception has a vast range and sweep. 
Too vast, it might be supposed, for finite minds, and too 
high for practical ends. But there are some plain infer- 
ences and uses which seem to me comprehensible and pro- 
fitable. 

i. And, first of all, we must assume and affirm that life 
in every form, from its lowest to its highest type, from the 
worm to the angel, is the work of divine power — the crea- 
tion of God. God only hath immortality. The past, the 
present, and the future, are all his. God only hath life in 
himself. Of him only can it be said, " He was, and is, and 
is to come." I am; but there was a time when I was not. 
The earth, the sun, the material universe are; but once they 
were not. God is "the eternal / am." From everlasting 
to everlasting. "Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or even thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from 
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." "Thou leavest 
man to destruction." Yes, indeed; we are of yesterday, 
and perish like the grass. Our life is as a vapor ; like the 
morning cloud, and the'early dew. Compared with the oak, 
our life is but a transient breath, an arrow's flight. 

But, " if a man die shall he live again?" That is the 
great agonizing question of the human soul. Is this life all ? 
Men say, if this be all, the life is not worth living. I do 
not wonder they say so. The argument for immortality 
from reason, however specious and hopeful, is far from being 
satisfactory. It amounts to a strong presumption only, not 
to certainty. The most that human wisdom ever presumed 
to say was, and is, " If there be another life." That is as 
far as the philosophy of the world, whether in ancient or in 
modern times, ever reached. But life and immortality are 
brought to light in the gospel. Jesus Christ said: "I have 
power to lay down my life, and have power to take it again." 
It was no idle boast. He did both. The holy temple they 
destroyed on Calvary's cross, he raised up again on the third 
dav, and over him, from that day forth, death had no more 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. L>. 275 

power. He went down into the grave, and then came back 
from the dead, showed himself alive to his disciples by many 
infallible signs and proofs, during forty days eating and 
drinking with them, giving them instructions concerning his 
kingdom, and then ascended to heaven in their sight. Then 
and there, on Olivet, the great problem of an endless life was 
solved, and the kingdom of immortal glory was opened to 
all believers in the risen Lord. 

Life in all its forms is the gift of God ; and the " unspeak- 
able gift " of God, is Jesus Christ, who is " the resurrection 
and the life." And the infinite gift of Christ to his people 
is "eternal life." "My sheep hear my voice, and I know 
them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal 
life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall be able 
to pluck them out of my Father's hand." And this is all 
"according to the hope of eternal life which God promised 
in Christ Jesus, before the world began." It does not 
matter when the world began, the purpose of the gospel 
antedates it, and the world was made for it. 

And I wish to emphasize the thought that the eternal life 
of the gospel is more than eternal existence, more than an 
endless succession of ages, of conscious being, and a sense of 
personal identity. God might will the brute creation to 
exist forever, as some suppose they will. But that would not 
be eternal life, in the New Testament sense of that term. If 
the old philosophers might be supposed to be alive, if they 
have reached no higher plane than their philosophy, they 
would not have the eternal life of the gospel. Still, eternal 
duration, endless existence, is, so to speak, the plane and 
measure of its power. Having begun, it never ends. It is 
a light that will never go out. A stream that will flow on 
forever. The sun may cease to shine from exhaustion, and 
in the far distant cycles of measureless time, the solar uni- 
verse may have a universal night. But the eternal life, 
which Christ gives, is as enduring as the being of God him- 
self. 



276 A MEMORIAL OF 

2. But this endless life reaching up into the endless ages, 
and so rich in all the possibilities of an endless existence, in 
its beginning is very small. It is but a germ, a seed, a 
mere atom. But it is life that guarantees its immortality. 
Smaller than the mustard seed, so small that no eye, but that 
of God can see it. The germs of physical life, both animal 
and vegetable, in its last analysis is a minute ceil, so small 
as to the naked eye to be invisible, and nothing but the most 
powerful glass can detect its presence, and even that cannot 
discern the vital parts. The atmosphere, we are told, swarms 
with animated dust. And so soon as these germs are brought 
under the proper conditions they develop life, and take on 
forms of beauty, and move to their appointed place and 
mission in the great universe of God. 

So the life of God in the soul is first a conception, then a 
birth. Its infant state is so feeble as to give slight indica- 
tions of future development and strength. The beginning 
may be but a word, a conviction, a tear, a sigh; but like the 
seed, it has all the elements, all the latent possibilities of the 
life everlasting. The majestic rivers take their rise far back 
on some mountain side, in some wooded dell, where a small 
streamlet bubbles from the earth or trickles from the rock. 
And even back of these, in misty vapor exhaled from the 
ocean, to fleck the sky with beauty and cover the face of the 
sun with its fleecy veil, and then fall in refreshing showers on 
the earth. And it were no marvel, if the endless life, swell- 
ing and overflowing its banks, spreading fertility in its course, 
should take its rise in the convictions and humilities of Chris- 
tian experience and culture. As a matter of fact, it never 
rises elsewhere. The gospel comes into the world with this 
announcement, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is 
the kingdom of heaven. 

Christ began his mortal life, not with the powers of an 
angel, not with the station of a prince or conqueror, nor yet 
in the full maturity of manhood, but as a little child, as the 
infant of Bethlehem, in a sphere of comparative obscurity. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 211 

And all his life was on the same plane of humility. But the 
child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and the grace of God 
was on him. He was meek and lowly in heart. When he 
saw ambition, and lust of power, and pride of position 
among his followers, he took a little child and sat him in the 
midst of them and said, " Except ye become as a little child 
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God." This endless 
life has its beginning in infancy and childhood. 

Science is pushing its way back into the most subtle pos- 
sibilities of matter to find the primal act of creation. Our 
teachers in science take a piece of granite and reduce it to 
powder, then to a liquid, then pass it off into vapor and gas, 
and then sagely tell us that the earth and solar system were 
once vapor and gas. Be it so ; but the creation, and com- 
bination, and consolidation were the result of power. So 
with life. It is often so frail that it seems like a mere gossa- 
mer thread, which a breath might sunder. A flame so frail 
that a breath might extinguish it. But from that little atom 
and spark of Vitality often comes forth a mind, which, as in 
the case of Newton, measures the heavens with a rod, and 
weighs the universe in a balance. Who could have predicted 
that in such a small bit of humanity such vast possibilities 
of thought and intellect lay concealed ? Who could have 
dreamed that in one small skull lay dormant a power that in 
the course of forty years would track the course of planets, 
map out the heavens with mathematical precision, and revo-. 
lutionize the physical sciences. And if the simple power of 
intellectual life be so great, what possibilities of spiritual 
power may not be hidden in the life of the soul ? 

2. And this leads me to say that this endless life has also 
the power of development, growth, and progress. 

A single grain of wheat possesses the power of reproduc- 
tion and multiplication, which in a few years would cover 
the earth with its harvests. And life on the spiritual plane 
has a similar fruitfulness. The history of Christianity illus- 
trates this truth. From the humble cradle of Bethlehem, 
24 



278 A MEMORIAL OF 

from the lowly childhood of Nazareth, from the boats and 
nets and fishermen of Galilee, the gospel has gone forth to 
the conquest of the world, proving that it possesses the pow- 
ers of an endless life. Jesus said, " All power is given unto 
me in heaven and in earth." And John the Baptist declared 
of him, "He must increase, but I must decrease." And 
that increase, not for a year, a generation, an age, but to the 
end of the ages ; deepening, widening, rising with the pow- 
ers of an endless life. His kingdom is an everlasting king- 
dom, and bis dominion knows no end. His throne shall 
remain- as long as the sun and the moon. The stone cut 
from the mountains shall fill the earth. 

Jesus shall reign where e'er the sun, 
Doth his successive journeys run. 
His kingd m spread from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 

Bonaparte once said, when discoursing with some of his 
companions in exile who were skeptical, "I have attempted 
to found an empire on force, and it has crumbled to ruin 
about me. Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago, founded a 
kingdom on love, and after nearly twenty centuries of oppo- 
sition, hatred, persecution, and martyrdom, that kingdom 
remains unshaken, grows with the growing years, and wears 
the freshness of immortal youth. And to-day there are 
millions who would lay down their lives for him. I tell you, 
gentlemen, Jesus Christ was the Son of God." 

Indeed he was the Son of God. "All hail the power of 
of Jesus' name." Now unto him who loved us, and gave 
himself for us, and washed us in his precious blood, be glory 
and honor, dominion and power, everlasting. 

3. And this leads "us to consider further, that this life is 
enduring, riot only in its organic and co-operate form, as 
seen in the endurance and growth of Christian churches, but 
also, and especially as it maintains its power in the human 
soul, lifting it into a sphere of progress in the realm of an 
endless existence. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 279 

There are some plants which flower but once in a hundred 
years ; during that hundred years they are slowly, but con- 
stantly maturing, for that final perfection of their being, the- 
flowerage and the fruitage. Now a century seems a long 
probation in the vegetable kingdom. I do not wonder that 
multitudes flock to see the century plant in bloom — an event 
that comes but once in a hundred years. But what if the flow- 
erage of the church's life were but centennial ? Even then it 
would be a thing of beauty and of joy, worthy the admiration 
of men and of angels. But the power of an endless life in 
the true Christian church is not simply centennial, or even 
annual, it is constant and perpetual ; a voice that is never 
silent, a heart-beat that never fails. 

The trees which John saw on the banks of the river of life, 
brought forth their fruits every month, and the leaves, with 
perpetual salutary power, were for the healing of the nations. 
An impressive type of this endless life in the soul, making it 
beautiful with fruits, and fragrant with the charms of immor- 
tality ; its saving and health- giving energy for all the na- 
tions of the earth. 

4. But, still further, we must not fail to notice that this 
life possesses the capacity for endless culture, improvement, 
and progress. It is estimated that the average duration of 
life is about thirty-three years, or one-third of a century. 
If we deduct from this brief space, infancy and childhood, 
sleep and needed rest, with periods of sickness, and many 
inevitable interruptions, we reduce its available time for cul- 
ture and work, for purposeful and productive activity, to one 
half of that period, or less. And yet within this narrow 
space what wonders have been wrought, and what achieve- 
ments have been made in self-discipline and culture, in 
mental training and the acquisition of knowledge. It is 
marvelous what some men have accomplished in the brief, 
and hurried, and hindered period of a single lifetime. They 
have sought out and determined the laws of nature, solved 
some of the profound problems of the universe, and laid 



280 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

open the mysteries of creation. They have caught the light- 
ning, tamed and trained it, sent it round the earth to do 
their bidding, and, with a tongue of flame, to tell their 
thoughts and repeat their messages to the nations. By the 
subtle analysis of light they have determined the laws of the 
planetary universe. 

Men work in the fields of science with a devotion which 
confounds our estimates and commands our admiration ; 
with a search for truth and a thirst for knowledge, more in- 
tense, if possible, than man's greed for gold. Now sup- 
pose some of these toilers for science could live and work a 
thousand years, and their progress could be in the same ratio 
as their improvement during the brief life they now live? It 
passes the imagination to measure the vast proportions of 
what they might accomplish, and what they might become. 
Suppose Newton and his fellow- laborers in the fields of phy- 
sical science, could have lived and carried forward their dis- 
coveries and their studies until this time? But our ripest 
scholars and most vigorous thinkers are cut down in the 
midst of their labors, and leave their work to others. And 
their successors have to take up this labor and this work from 
their hands and carry it forward with whatever ability they 
may possess. 

Suppose the apostle could have lived and continued his 
labors among the Gentiles for the evangelization of the 
world till the present time, 1881? What an accumulation 
of power, experience, and wisdom, in a ministry of twenty 
centuries, would have been his, and ours, and the world's, 
in the fruits of righteousness from such a ministry. A man 
dies in the full flush of his manhood, just as he is looking 
out upon the world, "girding himself for more heroic con- 
flicts. Sometimes a man is cut down in the maturity of his 
manhood, while dealing valiant and sturdy blows in the in- 
terest of humanity and truth, and we feel that the world has 
suffered a great loss. And that is true. It is sad to have a 
life with vast possibilities of good interrupted. A shining 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 281 

light put out, A star fall from heaven. But we do not 
know all its meaning. 

A good life, a true life, is the most precious thing in the 
world, and could it have time for maturity and development, 
its power for good would seem to be almost boundless. The 
Psalmist lived a long life, and served his generation, by the 
will of God, but he became an old man, and it was finally 
written, "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are 
ended." The patriarchs lived many years, but of each 
finally, history inscribed, "And he died." But the life we 
are considering is endless, and involves the accumulation of 
power from uninterrupted growth and progress. And so we 
reach the culmination of this subject. This endless life has 
a power which defies death, and survives the grave. The 
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. " Then shall 
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swal- 
lowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting ! Oh, 
grave, where is thy victory!" And then this endless life 
will begin its more glorious career, develop its latent en- 
ergies, clothe itself with the radiant glories of paradise, and 
shine in the light of immortality and heaven. 

5. And, finally, let us reflect: Who can estimate its 
prospective resources of power and blessedness? Who can 
imagine its possibilities of experience and growth in culture 
of all the elements of holy and lofty character, in all the 
attainments of knowledge and wisdom, which this endless 
life involves? In the sweep of the long cycles of eternity, 
to what magnitude of greatness, to what ranges of vision 
upon the outlying ways and works of God may not the souls 
of the redeemed and sanctified attain. I do not wonder 
Paul calls it "an eternal we'ght of glory," or that he should 
exclaim, " Oh, the depth, both of the wisdom and power of 
God ; how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
finding out." 

The power of an endless life ! Who can estimate it, as it 
reaches upward in an endless flight amidst the splendors of 



282 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

the New Jerusalem? Now we see through a glass darkly. 
Now we know only in part. Then we shall have the vision 
and intuition of angels. Here education and development 
are mechanical and laborious. Then it shall be with the 
flash of thought, and the discernment of spiritual intuition. 
Just as after the most laborious study the truth seems to 
elude your grasp, but afterward comes to you with the sud- 
denness and force of a revelation, as a voice from heaven, 
so this endless life will bring with it facilities for the ac- 
quisition of knowledge and improvement, beyond our 
present highest powers of conception. " Eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard," what the future holds for God's regenerated 
people. 

And, now ; is this endless life ours ? Has it transformed 
our hearts? Have its convictions, humilities, and holy en- 
ergies been awakened in us? Is Christ, "who is our life," 
formed in us, "the hope of glory?" "He that believeth 
on me hath eternal life." For, "I give unto them eternal 
life, and they shall never perish." 

My Father's house on high, 

Home of my soul, how near ; 
At times, to faith's discerning eye ? 

Thy golden gates appear. 

Oh, how my spirit faints, 

To see the home I love, 
The blest inheritance of saints, 

Jerusalem above. 



ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS. 

Jer. 6 : 16. — " Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the 
old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
souls." 

A thing is not to be valued simply because it is old. A 
great many corrupt customs and usages have come down 
from a very distant past. Indeed, sin itself can plead a very 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 283 

high antiquity. Besides, we all know there is a veneration 
for the past in matters of religion, which is but another name 
for the most blind and degrading superstition. It is this 
which gives value to sacred relics, the bones of saints, pieces 
of the cross, and other pretended sacred things, opening the 
way for those shameless impositions of Rome practiced 
upon her deluded children. It is this which takes men on 
pilgrimages to the "holy places" in and about Jerusalem. 
It is the same superstition which leads the thousands of de- 
voted papists to St. Peter's and the Vatican, and the equally 
devout Moslem to Mecca and the tomb of the false Prophet. 

But reverence for the old is not therefore always to be 
condemned. Regard for the past is not always superstition. 
There is a veneration for religious antiquity highly com- 
mendable and truly Christian, and therefore authoritative 
and obligatory. And so we are commanded to contend 
earnestly, and in the text, to inquire diligently for the old 
paths. There is an inordinate tendency in the human mind 
to trace things back to their sources. When we notice a 
river, as laid down on the map, we naturally follow it up 
through all its windings to its source in the mountains. 
Scholars, with laborious care and careful scrutiny, follow 
the currents of history back till they lose their path in the 
mazes of story and of fable. Every family well nigh be- 
lieves it can trace its descent from some ancient, honorable, 
and honored stock. 

But beneath all this seeming childishness, lies an important 
principle, a commendable sentiment. It is this : that truth, 
in its elements, in its original types, is unchanging ; it is 
always and everywhere the same. The diamond is a diamond 
wherever found. There is a simplicity in its substance which 
admits of no commixture, and scarcely of variety. The 
same is true, to a large extent, of the precious metals. 
• Light is everywhere and under all conditions the same, 
when you reach its simple elements. And in proportion as 
you ascend to the more subtle and imponderable forms of 



284 A MEMORIAL OF 

matter will you find it approach to a simple base, making a 
wonderful unity in nature. This is seen in the correlation 
and conservation of forces, tending to the rapidly maturing 
conclusion that nature, or the universe, is everywhere, in all 
its varied changes and diversified modes of action, yet ruled 
by one force and subject to one law. All seeming contrari- 
ety and diversity is found to be but varied operations of one 
absolute and changeless unity. 

Truth, a true church, a changeless gospel, are in their 
original elements the same. I know that the popular teach- 
ing just now is, according to the evolution theory, that 
animals, and vegetables, and everything that hath life, im- 
prove by culture. That higher types are educed from lower 
ones. We are sagely told that the wheat which waves in 
golden luxuriance over our western prairies was once but a 
worthless wild grass, upon the cold, bleak tablelands of 
northern Asia. And that the glossy kine of Devonshire, 
less than a century ago, were a shabby and worthless race, 
less attractive and leaner than Pharaoh's under the seven 
years of Egyptian famine. This all may be. But those 
were not the primitive types. They were degenerate. I 
claim that the wheat of Eden was of the finest quality, and 
better than the best our modern culture can boast. I claim 
that at first there was perfection in the Creator's works, from 
which all have declined with the wreck and fall of man from 
his original perfection. With sin came degeneration of every 
kind. The earth was cursed for man's sake, and even till 
now the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
together. The animal and vegetable creations, when they 
culminated in Eden, were perfect. 

So with religious "truth. The old paths are here com- 
mended to our regard, because they are the right paths, and 
the best. By paths, let us understand doctrines. The pre- 
cepts, institutions, and ordinances of religion. The divinely 
appointed ways in which men should walk in their ielations 
to God and their fellow-men. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 285 

It is implied in the text that these old paths may be for- 
gotten or forsaken. And the religious history of the race 
proves the implication just. Indeed, in nothing is the de- 
pravity and perversity of human nature more plainly mani- 
fested than in religious degeneracy — a departure from the 
original standards of divine revelation, and an experimental 
religion. There is in the race an almost invincible prone- 
ness toward backsliding and apostasy. We walk in the 
light which God gives us but a little while. If he revives 
his work, and, as he has often done, brings up his church 
out of Egypt, or the wilderness, and clothes her anew with 
salvation, it is but a short time before the glory will decline, 
her strength become weakness, and she will have strayed 
from the old paths, and again be lost in the wilderness. 

As a path little used soon becomes indistinct and with 
difficulty traced, so the old paths of religion, if not con- 
stantly trodden, become overgrown with a rapid and luxuri- 
ous crop of worldliness. Even those who desire to find 
them have not an easy task. They have to stand, and see, 
and inquire for the old paths, and find them only after, the 
most diligent and painstaking search. 

Suppose John Wesley should come back, and go into some 
cathedral -like Methodist church, in one of our large cities, 
what would he be likely to say ? If some of our Baptist 
fathers should return and visit some of our New England 
churches, witness" their forms of worship, and listen to the 
preaching, I fear they would hardly recognize a family re- 
semblance to the Baptists of their day, whom they did so 
much to found and build 'up. But we wish the old paths, 
not because they are of the fathers, but because they are of 
God, and have his approval, and lead to the green pastures 
of his love and grace. Because they are of Christ, and the 
apostles, and the primitive church. The text commands us 
to inquire for them, to search for them, as one would for hid 
treasures, as though these alone led to salvation and heaven. 
We want primitive types, the oldest forms, the true originals. 



286 A MEMORIAL OF 

We must go back of synods, and councils, and traditions, 
and creeds, back to the word of God itself. To the auto- 
graph records of God's unerring truth, if these can by any 
possibility be found. Anything lower than this we may be 
sure will degenerate. But the word of the Lord abideth for- 
ever. " To the law and the testimony." 

i. We want the old theology. In other words, the pure, 
simple gospel as it came from the lips and the life of Christ, 
and was proclaimed and spread abroad by his apostles. The 
gospel of salvation, by faith in the Son of God, the Saviour 
of the world. And we want it in its primitive simplicity, as 
a testimony from heaven, and as a revelation of grace to a 
lost world And we want it in its fullness, as a finished sal- 
vation, as a perfect righteousnesss, an accomplished redemp- 
tion, free grace, without money and without price. 

The basis of the New Testament theology is grace ; its 
alpha and omega, its first and its last. Grace is the warp 
and woof inwrought into the fabric of the New Testament 
truth and salvation, in all its parts. In our religious rela- 
tions we want the gospel exclusively. Paul declared that he 
determined to know nothing among the Corinthians but 
Christ and him crucified. For religious edification, for 
character culture, for comfort and peace, we need the gospel, 
and -accept that only. But we prefer it in its naked sim- 
plicity, as God has given it, without the cheap tinsel decora- 
tions with which some of its pretended friends have tricked 
it out, to make it more acceptable or more attractive to those 
who by nature have no love for it. As food is more nutri- 
tious in its natural purity, as the combinations of the natural 
landscape are infinitely richer in beauty than the most 
labored arrangement" of art, so with the gospel of the blessed 
God. So the theology of the New Testament, for all pur- 
poses of sanctification and church growth, is infinitely above 
all the attempted improvements of modern scholars and of 
modern pulpits. You cannot have strong men, if constantly 
fed on candies and sweetmeats. Nor can you have strong 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 287 

Christians under the highly seasoned ministrations of many- 
modern pulpits. 

The pulpit is the last place where a man can properly affect 
style and finish. The apostle declared that he did not come 
to the people with the excellency of speech which man's 
wisdom teacheth. Not at all. But in the fullness of the 
blessing of the gospel of Christ. A man in earnest, with 
something important to say, never stops to think how he is 
to say it. I utter no plea for rudeness in the pulpit. Not 
even for carelessness of language in his addresses. But of 
the two evils I would certainly prefer an honest bluntness, 
and even coarseness, with a straightforward, home-thrusting 
pungency, to that excessive refinement that goes into hys- 
terics over a breach of grammar, or an incorrect pronuncia- 
tion, but which can tolerate any amount of heresy, provided 
it be rhetorically written and eloquently spoken. 

When an English bishop lay dying, he sent for one 
of his chaplains to pray with him. So the chaplain took 
out his prayer book, to find the proper prayer to read. 
"No," said the bishop, "not that now. No reading of 
prayers here. Pray for me as you would like me to pray for 
you, if you were dying." And ought we not to pray and 
preach as dying men to dying men? Would not that be 
walking in the old paths ? We want the same gospel which 
Paul, and Peter, and John, which Stephen, and Philip, and 
Apollos preached. The old gospel has a peculiar sound. It 
was cast and toned in heaven. And whenever that harp is 
struck it fills the air with a sacred melody. 

I heard on one occasion two sermons on the same day, at 
an Association; one in the forenoon, the other in the after- 
noon. The young man who preached was a city pastor, very 
much esteemed. The old man, a country pastor, who had 
held the same pulpit for many years, much honored and be- 
loved. The young man's sermon was well written, well 
delivered, and made a favorable impression as to the preach- 
er's ability. The old man's sermon was simple, homely, terse 



288 A MEMORIAL OF 

Saxon words and sentences. But, though small at first, it 
grew as he proceeded, and at the close broke in a baptism 
of spiritual power over the audience. It was in demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit, and with power. 

When the king reproved one of his bishops for going to 
hear John Bunyan preach, the bishop replied: "May it 
please your majesty, I would gladly exchange my rich bene- 
fice, exchange my learning, and lay aside the honors of ray 
bishopric, if I could preach the gospel like this poor tinker 
of Elstow." " Not by words which man's wisdom teacheth, 
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." And to this end, 
"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, 
but in the power of God." The faith that is born of words, 
and nourished by words, will be effeminate and sickly. But 
the Spirit and the truth of God make moral and religious 
heroes. They endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus 
Christ. 

2. And this leads us on to consider that we need, and are 
likely to find in the old paths alone, the old ministrations of 
the Spirit. I use the term old, not as implying that there is, 
or can be any new ministration of the Spirit, but in distinc- 
tion from what claims the ministration of the Holy Ghost. 
As Paul says to the Galatians, "I marvel that ye are so 
soon turned away to another gospel." That is, it is no 
gospel at all. It is a pretense, a sham, a fraud. The world is 
full of religious frauds. Not only the more gross and re- 
volting forms of error and delusion, which are not so very 
dangerous. Indeed, I think heresies are sometimes useful. 
They help to carry off and free the religious body politic 
of noxious sentiments, and purify the prevailing religious 
atmosphere, bringing about a better state of spiritual health. 
In a sanitary point of view, it is a great advantage for 
a community to have some general outlet for sewerage, 
into which all the impurities which breed malaria can be 
turned. It is an advantage for a church to be relieved of 
those vicious and corrupting elements which disturb its 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 289 

peace, and threaten its prosperity and perhaps its life. It is 
better to cut out a fatal cancer, or amputate a mortified 
limb, and thus save the whole body. 

And when a church neglects to purify itself by the disci- 
pline which God has enjoined, when from a false tenderness 
they spare a fruitful evil, healing slightly the wound, or build- 
ing with untempered mortar, it were no marvel if the walls 
came tumbling down, and that God should withhold his 
special blessing. The perverse elements will be likely to 
corrupt the faith of the church which has not fidelity or 
courage sufficient to put them away. But the evil of which 
I am speaking is more insidious and more dangerous. The 
apostles claimed that they ministered the gospel under the 
influence of a peculiar inspiration, or power, or unction. It 
was not simply a testimony, a statement of facts, an appeal, 
an exhortation. It was all these, but it was more. It was 
God's message to men. It was the power of God unto sal- 
vation. For this reason Paul declared that he was not 
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. In its simplest utterances 
it possessed an inherent power which carried it to the 
hearts of men with convicting and saving effect. It 
was this by which the three thousand were saved. It 
was this that awakened the jailer, and opened the heart of 
Lydia. It was this which arrested Saul of Tarsus, the fiery 
and infuriated persecutor and slayer of the disciples, and 
transformed him into the great apostle to the Gentiles, and 
made him build the faith he once destroyed. . 

You may affect and attract men on a lower plane of spirit- 
ual life, and bring them into the church, and keep them 
there for a time. But you cannot regenerate them, you can- 
not Christianize them without the ministration of the Spirit. 
That experiment has been tried in a variety of ways, but 
always with one and the same result — a failure. Go into 
Central Asia, or among the Indian tribes, and see the result 
of Roman Catholic missions. They made converts — in a 
plenty. But they did not make them Christians. They 
25 



290 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

baptized them, gave them a Christian name, taught them the 
ritual, to do penance and say prayers. But all that can be 
done without the Spirit. And it is often done by others than 
Catholics. Here is a point we are called on to guard. In 
the matter of salvation we may trust nothing but the power 
of God. Even the apostles were commanded not to begin 
the work of evangelization till they were endued with power 
from on high. 

What is needed to give the gospel success, is the power of 
God on the ministry and on the membership. Anything 
less will be a failure. Power, power ! In the pulpit, in the 
prayer meeting, in the Sunday-schools, in Christian homes, 
in the business places of Christian men, in the social gather- 
ings of Christian women, in all places of religious influence. 
" Pray for us," said the apostle, " that the word of the 
Lord may have free course, and be glorified." 

A minister who had an appointment to preach at a private 
house, retired to his room for prayer. The congregation 
gathered, but the preacher did not come. Some one was 
sent to tell him that the people were waiting for him. But 
the messenger returned without the minister, and reported 
that he was talking with some one in the room, for he heard 
him say, "I will not go except thou go with me." And 
when the preacher finally came in to address the people, there 
was another came with him sure enough, whose presence was 
immediately felt ; even the Spirit of truth and grace. He 
preached as he had never preached before. 

A young college student, a confirmed skeptic, composed 
himself to sleep during an evening's service, which by the 
college rules he was compelled to attend. But he awoke just 
in time to hear the preacher repeat the text as he completed 
the service and took his seat. He heard no more. But that 
text, under the over-shadowing presence of God, went to 
his heart, and left a wound which the blood of Christ alone 
could heal. The presence and power of the Spirit can cause 
small gifts, broken language, stammering utterances, and 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 291 

even silent ordinances to become the ministers of grace and 
salvation to men. 

3. And so I pass to say, briefly, that we need the old 
worship. 

I do not so much mean in the exact forms, as in its spirit, 
indwelling power, and vital efficacy. I think it is easy to 
see what was substantially the worship of the early churches. 
It consisted in the orderly reading of the Scriptures, ex- 
pounding certain portions, prayer, exhortation, and singing 
of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in 
their hearts to the Lord. Every part was spiritual. I do 
not mean that mental culture was excluded, but that the 
spiritual was regnant in each and every part. An exposition 
not imbued with the Spirit's power, would not have been 
very much thought of in such a service. A sermon, how- 
ever intellectual and logical, if not enlivened by spiritual 
warmth, would not have been held as orthodox in apostolic 
times. And the same may be said of the more strictly de- 
votional parts of service ; such as prayer, singing, and ex- 
hortation. Now we want this old style of worship restored. 
We have made the experiment of the formal sort, and find 
that for evangelical uses it avails little. 

Richard Hildreth says he never understood the hold that 
Roman Catholicism had on the masses until he visited Italy. 
He went into the splendid cathedrals, and saw the pageantry 
of the worship in its most imposing forms, conducted by the 
gorgeously robed cardinals, with hundreds of the lower 
clergy. All was grand and imposing, with music of the 
most artistic and exquisite style and execution. But there 
was nothing to touch the heart and minister to the sensibili- 
ties. And so the people were not there. It was a sort of 
dumb show, for the satisfaction of the performers them- 
selves, and a few curious visitors. And he was at a loss to 
know how the Romish church possessed so strong a hold on 
the faith and reverence of the masses. But when he wan- 
dered through the country, and went into the village 



292 A MEMORIAL OF 

churches always open for the entrance of the people, he 
found solitary worshipers, who had turned aside for a few 
minutes to rest and worship, on their knees before the shrines 
and images, seeking, though in a mistaken way, to gain a 
nearer approach to the Father of spirits, through those 
whom they had been taught to regard as intercessors. With 
a better knowledge of the divine method, how, with an 
equal sincerity and a more intelligent faith, ought we to 
maintain a stronger current of spiritual life in our worship. 

Formal worship is everywhere equally worthless. It does 
not make us better or happier. It does not feed our re- 
ligious life. It may meet the requirements of custom, it may 
satisfy educational and worldly demands ; but a true Chris- 
tian faith, and a real spiritual life, cry out for something 
better fitted to their nature, and therefore to their needs, 
something that will bring the soul nearer to God. 

4. We also want the old experie?ice. 

The experimental workings of religion in the soul, or the 
witness of the Spirit in the heart, must be everywhere alike. 
In one of the churches of which I have been pastor, I 
became very familiar with the only other pastor in the place. 
Well, in our talks about religion, I found that while we used 
the same ecclesiastical and theological terms, we used them 
in very different senses. We attached very different mean- 
ings to the same words. By experiencing religion, he meant 
learning the catechism and joining the church. By regener- 
ation, he meant baptism. And by living a Christian life, he 
meant observing Lent and keeping the fasts of the church, 
as appointed by authority. 

There is danger of losing sight of the old landmarks of 
Christian experience,- everywhere apparent at the present 
day. The work of substitution, or of putting one thing in 
place of another, is one of Satan's most sagacious methods 
of deception. He deals very largely in counterfeits. Adul- 
terations and masked batteries he well understands the value 
of in his work. If you insist on an experimental religion, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 293 

he will furnish a false type, with strong external resemblance 
to the true. If revival power possess the church, he will 
become wonderfully zealous in this direction, and seek to 
decoy you into premature conclusions, and stop the work 
short of a radical change of heart and a sound conversion, 
and so make the work spurious, a worthless imitation. 

All true Christian experience must spring from the germs 
of Christian truth, as to the depravity of the human heart, 
the evil nature of sin, the need of an atonement, and the 
preciousness of Christ's mediation. A man and his wife, 
who had been received in a Unitarian church, came to an 
evangelical pastor, and said, " We have not settled the ques- 
tion of the Trinity ; but we have heard you preach, and we 
feel that the gospel which you preach is just what we need 
and have long been looking for." And, as you may judge, 
it did not require much time or labor to instruct them in the 
ways of the Lord more perfectly. They were soon happy in 
the assured love of a Saviour, who is " the end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth," and also, who is 
able to save unto the uttermost all "who come to God 
through him." 

"I write unto you no new commandment," said John, 
" but the old commandment which ye have had from the be- 
ginning. The old commandment is the word which ye 
heard." "The faith once for all delivered to the saints," 
is the faith of all ages, and for which we are most earnestly 
to contend. Let us, therefore, hold fast the profession of 
our faith, firm unto the end. 



THE LIFE TO COME. 

Job. 14 : 8. — " If a man die, shall he live again? " 

This is a great question. Back of all subtleties and phi- 
losophies touching the " life that is," lies the deeper question 
of the life that is to come. Beneath the agitated surface of 



294 A MEMORIAL OF 

human thought, deeper than business, deeper than social re- 
lation, deeper than pleasure, there are currents of anxious 
thought, setting out strongly toward the shore of the un- 
known world, toward the hope of another life. It is the 
question of all conditions, from childhood to age — from the 
lowest paganism to the highest form of Christian civiliza- 
tion. 

The first question which the opening mind asks as it be- 
gins to look out and ponder thoughtfully the phenomena of 
life and death, is that of the text, " If a man die, shall he 
live again ? ' ' 

In the lips of Job this question is more than four thousand 
years old, and from the day that sin entered the world, and 
death by sin, it has come down to us, the great problem of 
the generations and ages. Every couch of mortal struggle, 
every place where are found the sick and the dying, every 
funeral procession, every burial ground, every monument for 
the dead, the weeds of mourning and the sable vestments of 
sorrow all ask, "If a man die, shall he live again? " The 
battlefields, where life is poured out and death revels in 
carnage, ask, " Shall these mutilated forms and mangled 
corpses live again? " And the sea asks, of the thousands 
consigned to its unknown depths, " Shall these live again? " 
Shall the sea give up its dead — the dead of a thousand gen- 
erations, over whom the waves of ages have rolled ? 

Can this question be solved? With thoughtful minds it is 
a question of intense and consuming interest. In the very 
nature of things it must be so, because it is a personal ques- 
tion of life and death for eternity. Is there any doubt 
about this matter ? Is the life to come a contingency, a prob- 
lem yet to be solved; something assumed, but not demon- 
strated ; at most and best, a hope, an expectation, a desire, 
a trust, a faith ; or is it a fact revealed, declared, promised, 
and confirmed beyond contingency or rational doubt ? Let 
us look at this subject with dispassionate reverence and 
thoughtfulness, for it is too sacred for irreverence, and toQ 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 295 

deep for trifling. " Fly, ye profane ; if not, draw near with 
solemn awe." 

Now in answer to this question, "If a man die, shall he. 
live again?" there are some things which seem to say 
"No," and some that positively say "Yes." Do not be 
startled at this admission, for if there be a negative seeming, 
it is far better to admit it and look it fully in t-he face, than 
by ignoring to leave it unanswered, to excite incredulity, and 
to nourish skepticism. The best way to settle doubts of any 
kind is to solve them. "Truth," says Milton, "was never 
yet worsted in a fair conflict with error " ; and the scriptural 
doctrine of another life has nothing to fear from a candid 
admission and examination of facts and conditions that might 
seem to be against it. 

i. First of all, then: Death itself seems to say "No"; 
to say that a dead man shall never live again. Death is the 
absence of life, and is everywhere regarded as a hopeless 
state. If an animal die, you do not expect it to live again ; 
if a tree perish, you do not expect to see it revive and be 
again clothed with verdure and bloom. If you simply cut it 
down and leave life in the roots, as Job says, " through the 
scent of water it will bud and bring forth boughs like a 
plant," but if the vital principle be thoroughly and totally 
destroyed you do not hope it will live again. In all such 
cases, death is a finality, admitting of no returning life. 

Another tree of the same kind may be generated from the 
seed, but by no possibility can life be restored to an animal 
or plant from which it has been taken ; the vital flame once 
extinguished can never be rekindled, and with man death 
has all the seeming of a kindred finality. 

In itself considered, it seems to be the end of man. There 
is the same prostration of the body, the same blight of phys- 
ical beauty, the same extinction of vital forces, and the same 
speedy dissolution and decay of material elements. Even 
where the attempt is made to preserve the body by em- 
balming, there is nothing but the blighted, wasted wreck, 



296 A MEMORIAL OF 

the painful, revolting mockery of life. Nowhere does death, 
as the utter extinction of life, reign with such absolute sway 
as in the Eastern mausoleums, where the bodies of a thousand 
generations are still found, as in the pyramids of Egypt. 
Not one of all these millions of bodies, preserved with so 
much costly care, and for the guarding of which these royal 
palaces of death were reared, has returned to life again. 
Where they were placed there they have remained, more 
lifeless, if possible, than the damp, dead walls by which they 
are surrounded. Sometimes the body of a sweet child, like 
a freshly plucked flower, will retain for a day or two, under 
favoring conditions, the beautiful semblance of life; but too 
soon we are constrained to feel that it is death, and to seek 
a place where we may hide our dead from our sight. And so 
we open the earth and say " dust to dust, and ashes to 
ashes," and then write upon the marble, "Here lies all that 
was mortal ! ' ' 

2. Our consciousness says No ! By consciousness I mean 
our sense of existence, our personality, what we call "our- 
selves." Now when we speak of ourselves, we mean our en- 
tire personality, that which lives, and thinks, and speaks ; 
certainly we do not mean parts of ourselves. But our self- 
hood, or consciousness of personality, is so bound up and 
identified with our bodies, as to seem that the extinction of 
the one must involve the extinction of the other. 

3. And experience gives the same answer: Of all that we 
have ever known and loved, that have passed away by death, 
not one has ever returned. Parents, husbands, wives, and 
children all sleep the same unbroken slumber. It seemed at 
first they would return, but intervening months and years 
have dispelled the illusion, and we have at length been con- 
strained to say with David : " We shall go to them, but they 
will not return to us." 

4. And such is the testimony of all time and all ages. 
Death has reigned for six thousand years throughout the 
earth. The history of the race is the history of a universal 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 297 

mortality ; it is but one lengthened funeral dirge. Through 
all generations the race is seen in solemn procession to the 
tomb. In all time, from the death of Abel till now, in pop- 
ulous China, in the crowded cities of Europe and America, 
or in the sparsely settled wilds of the uncivilized part of the 
globe, death everywhere reigns, and reigns with an inexor- 
able sovereignty and finality. 

5. And the halting conclusions of reason lie in the same 
negative direction. Ask reason, "If a man die, shall he 
live again ? " and what is the answer? As impersonated in 
the book of Job, the answer is: "Man dieth and wasteth 
away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" 
Ask the question of Socrates and Plato. Reason may specu- 
late upon the abstract possibility of immortality, and may 
marshall the presumptions and probabilities of a life separate 
from and independent of the body : but reason, after its 
strongest arguments and conclusions, confesses that it only 
reasons, but does not know — that it barely hopes, but scarcely 
believes.- "I shall soon know," said Socrates, "whether 
death be an eternal sleep, or a life of immortal bliss among 
the gods." His most positive conclusions in relation to a 
life beyond the grave, were all weakened and sicklied by this 
doubting, skeptical, faithless " if." Could Socrates but have 
come back to have settled for his disciples the great question 
about which he speculated with so much earnestness, and 
beauty, and eloquence ! 

But he never came back, and Plato had to take up the ar- 
gument where he had left it, and carry it forward with what 
power he was able to command. But at best, the conclu- 
sions of reason and philosophy, touching the life everlasting, 
if not non-conclusive, have yet been very unsatisfactory, and 
men have felt the need of something more decided and posi- 
tive to confirm their faith and hopes. Even Socrates himself, 
when pressed with this question, confessed his uncertainty 
and said: "We must await the advent of some great 
teacher from heaven to settle the matter by divine revela- 



298 A MEMORIAL OF 

tjon." Such is the dark or negative view of this subject. 
Let us now turn to the positive and brighter side 

What are some of the arguments which answer ' ; Yes; if 
a man die, he shall live again ? " The light is all the sweeter 
for the darkness, and the positive affirmations of truth are 
the more grateful for the bewilderments and uncertainties of 
error, 

i. First then I observe that the simple ideaoi immortality 
looks favorably to the positive side of this question, and 
seems to indicate that another life than the fleeting present 
may be held in reserve for us. Whence comes this notion 
or idea of immortality and of another life? It seems to be 
a part of the human consciousness, a kind of inalienable in- 
heritance with which we are endowed by virtue of our crea- 
tion, a sort of instinctive conception and conviction of our 
absolute destiny and dignity. At any rate, wherever man is 
found, even in the most revolting moral degradation, he is 
found with this idea of a future slate, an existence after death. 

Now whence comes this universal susceptibility, if not con 
stitutional and innate, something which springs naturally 
from our creation? It is admitted that a constitutional ca- 
pacity indicates a corresponding possibility or end. The eye 
is fitted for light, the ear for sound, and the foot for loco- 
motion, therefore sight, and hearing, and locomotion belong 
to us. Fish have a capacity for the sea, and birds for the air. 
So the idea of immortality, its naked conception, is a strong 
presumptive attestation of its reality. Indeed, it may be as- 
sumed that if immortality had not been the original inherit- 
ance of the soul, its conception would not have been a pos- 
sibility. You cannot carry mind beyond the plane of its 
capabilities, and this is true of all things. An arch will bear 
a certain pressure and strain, but not an ounce more. The 
architect of a bridge will tell you to the fraction of a pound 
how much it will bear. You can bring the mind of a brute 
up to a given constitutional plane, but by no possible culture 
can you get it beyond. You can make him fill out the meas- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 299 

ure of his capacity, but nothing more. But the idea of im- 
mortality is normal with the human soul, and the argument 
is that therefore the soul is capable of immortality, or that 
immortality is its legitimate inheritance. 

It seems to me, then, that the simple idea of immortality 
answers this question positively, and says : "Yes; though a 
man die, he may live again." The conception proves the 
possibility. 

2. The hopes of humanity look in the same direction. 

It will be allowed that the hope of immortality is very con- 
genial, and, as we have said, is with all nations a cherished 
faith and expectation. True, it is sometimes very crude and 
depraved. As the appetite of a savage differs from the appetite 
of a civilized man, but is equally appetite in both, and indi- 
cates that the body needs nourishment and material replenish- 
ment in some form, so this appetite for immortality, whether 
with pagan or Christian, indicates that immortality is our 
normal inheritance. " Labor not," said Christ, " for the meat 
which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto ever- 
lasting life." Hence Addison, true to nature, makes Lato 
say, wondering over Plato's argument for the immortality of 
the soul : 

It must be so — Plato, thou reasonest well ! 

Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 

This longing after immortality ? 

Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, 

Of falling into naught ? Why shrinks the soul 

Back on herself, and startles at destruction ? 

'Tis the divinity that stirs within us; 

'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter 

And intimates eternity to man. 

Nothing is so terrible as the possibility of annihilation — 
non-existence. The soul shrinks from it and clings to exist- 
ence as if eternal being were its highest right, the loss of 
which would be its greatest loss. 

3. And therefore, immortality has been the religious faith 



300 A MEMORIAL OF 

of humanity in all time. Religion under every variety of 
form proves this. Temples, and altars, and sacrifices, and 
prayers, and praise indicate the confident expectation of 
another life and of the need of preparation and meetness for 
the same. Indeed, this strong religious element, this pro- 
clivity to worship, this hope, this expectation, this desire, 
this faith in another life is what separates man widely from 
the brute creation, and allies him to the skies, and makes 
him " but a little lower than the angels." 

4. I have yet to add to this rapid summary of the argu- 
ment from natural causes, also this : That the imperfections 
and judicial inequalities of the present state point to an- 
other, where oui natures may be perfected, and where wrongs 
and inequalities may be righted. To every creature is 
assigned a given probation, longer or shorter, yet adequate 
to the perfection of its being. Some of the most beautiful 
insects perfect themselves in a day. They open their golden 
wings to the light of the morning and fold them with the 
shades of evening A blade of grass ripens under the sum- 
mer's sun into the golden wealth of autumn, but it takes 
thousands of years for the full maturity of some trees to be 
reached. You do not like to see a tree cut down in the 
sturdy manhood of its strength. You want it to have a 
chance to fill out its possibilities of growth. If you were to 
see a farmer thrust his sickle into a field of half-ripe grain 
you would think him insane. Children should not be taken 
from school with their education just begun, or even half- 
finished. You would cry out at such injustice. 

Now the argument is that the present life is not long 
enough for the intellectual and moral development of the 
soul. Under the most favored circumstances for rapid 
growth, and vigorous and fruitful culture, the soul is far from 
its perfection, from its own ideal of desire, and purpose, and 
endeavor. Not only in moral and religious, but also in intel- 
lectual and scientific research, men of the ripest scholarship 
and highest attainments are constrained to say : " We have 



\ 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 301 

not yet attained ; we are not yet perfect ; but — we follow 
on." 

In all the pursuits of life, especially those which involve a. 
lengthened discipline, men are everywhere cut down in the 
midst of their days, and are constrained to leave their plans, 
and studies, and works unfinished to others. 

Now it would seem that the education of the soul, or the 
growth of the soul after the longest life had but just begun. 
Sir Isaac Newton, after his astronomical demonstrations, 
said, he seemed to himself to know nothing in comparison 
with what remained to be known, and that he felt, even 
when following the tracks of worlds, and suns, and systems, 
but as a little child picking up pebbles upon the shore ! 
Everywhere, no less in science than in religion, men are 
constrained to say: '-'We know in part, and we prophesy 
in part." And. so everywhere the soul, under this con- 
sciousness of imperfection, stretches itself forward, and lifts 
itself in desire and hope to the perfect ; saying with Paul : 
" When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part 
shall be done away." Nature, equally with revelation and 
providence, and grace, seems to say : " What I do now thou 
knowest not, but thou shalt know hereafter." 

I have not time to dwell upon the argument for another 
life from the judicial inequalities of the present state of exis- 
tence. I pass it with the simple remark, that the sufferings 
of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked can only 
be satisfactorily explained on the hypothesis of another state, 
to which the severe discipline and trial of the present may 
be preparatory, a state where religious trath and fidelities 
shall be rewarded, and disobedience find its merited penal- 
ties. In no other way can the justice of Providence be 
vindicated. 

5. I come now to the more direct and positive testimony 

of revelation. To this question: "If a man die, shall he 

live again?" the Bible answers, "Yes." As soon as sin 

entered the world and death by sin, came the promise of 

26 



302 A MEMORIAL OF 

life, whispered amid the blighted and fading glories of Eden, 
"The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." 
This,, as we now know, engrossed the whole work of redemp- 
tion, and the overthrow of him who had-the power of death. 
In other words, it was a remission of sin, and of course, 
a remission of the penalty of sin, which was death ; for, as 
the apostle argues, the sting of death is sin, and the strength of 
sin is the law, but if the law be satisfied and sin be pardoned, 
then death is deprived of its sting. As the poet says : 

If sin be pardoned, I'm secure ; 
Death hath no sting besides. 

The sting removed, death ceases to be a curse and becomes 
a grace and a blessing ; and, therefore in the New Testament, 
death is always spoken of under the sweet and gentle symbols 
of a sleep to be followed by an awakening to everlasting life. 
Suppose a man be unjustly imprisoned, but at length his inno- 
cence appears and his righteousness comes forth as the noon- 
day, and justice discharges and sets him free. It is in this 
way that grace changes the death penalty of sin into a posi- 
tive victory for life and immortality. It was to illustrate and 
confirm this hope of the resurrection that Enoch was "not, 
for God took him." In this faith of the resurrection of the 
dead, Abraham, when he had offered up Isaac, accounted that 
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from 
whence also he received him in a figure." To the same end 
God revealed himself to Moses, saying: "I am the God of 
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Not, I 
was the God of Abraham historically, but as Christ explained 
it, intensely in the present ; and, therefore, Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob must be living, for Christ says: "I am not the 
God of the dead, butrof the living." It was the faith of the 
resurrection that enabled Job to say with so much confidence : 
" I know that my Redeemer liveth." It was this faith of the 
resurrection that taught David to say of his child : "I shall 
go to him, but he shall not return to me." It was through 
this faith that the prophet, looking on to the resurrection, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 303 

said : " Thy dead men shall live again, together with my 
dead body shall they rise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in 
dust, for the earth shall cast out her dead." And so the 
angel testified to Daniel : " Many that sleep in the dust shall 
awake and come forth ; some to everlasting life, and some to 
shame and everlasting contempt." And Christ, in answer 
to the cavilling of the Sadducees, said : "Ye do err, not 
understanding the scriptures. For in the resurrection they 
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels 
of God in heaven." 

" If a man die, shall he live again ? " and all these Scrip- 
tures say "Yes ! " Moses and Elias upon the holy moun- 
tain, thousands of years after their departure from the earth, 
conversing with Christ about his decease, say " Yes." The 
raising of the young man at Nain ; the recalling of the 
spirit of the young daughter of the ruler ; and the resurrection 
of Lazarus at Bethany, all confirmed the claim of Christ 
that he was the resurrection and the life, and assert that, 
"though a man die, he shall live again." 

But the crowning proof is the resurrection of Christ him- 
self. He had said, " Destroy this temple, and in three days 
I will raise it up. Then, said the Jews, forty and six years 
was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three 
days. But he spake of the temple of his body." 

He early showed his disciples that the Son of Man must 
suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief 
priest and scribes, and be slain and be raised the third day. 
All of which came to pass ; and upon this simple fact the 
apostles rest not only the question of immortality, but the 
truth of the gospel itself and the whole question of salvation. 
"'If the dead rise not Christ is not risen, and if Christ be 
not risen your faith is vain, and we are found false witnesses. 
For we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom 
he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not." But the 
apostle says, this cannot be : " Now Is Christ risen from 
the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For, 



304 A MEMORIAL OF 

since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection 
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive." 

" If a man die, shall he live again? " The resurrection of 
Christ, with its infallible proofs, seen forty days alive, seen 
of five hundred at once, and seen as he ascended into 
heaven, whence he shall come to judge the quick and the 
dead, all these answer the question positively. Though a 
man die, he shall live again. " For if we believe," says Paul, 
" that if Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who 
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Wherefore, com- 
fort one another with these words." 

But the world does not know how to receive this doctrine. 
It is unphilosophical and unscientific as they insist. It is 
the great stumbling block of worldly wisdom ; even the faith 
of the church is halting, and dubious, and exceptional. It is 
with many a historical faith, a faith of the creed rather than 
of the heart. The old question is still in debate : " How are 
the dead raised up, and with what body do they come." 
But the faith of the early church was decided, and positive, 
and intense. " Why should it be thought a thing incredible 
that God should should raise the dead?" said Paul to 
Agrippa, " touching the hope of the resurrection I am called 
in question this day. ' ' For the hope of Israel I am bound 
with this chain. In the Catacombs, under Rome, are found 
the tombs of the early Christians, and the inscriptions are 
all vital and fragrant with the hope of the resurrection. 
Such an one "sleeps in Christ — rests in peace till the resur- 
rection." A little child is "borne away on the wings of 
angels." 

Is the hope of the resurrection yours ? I do not ask if it is 
your traditional belief, your speculative faith, nor simply a 
refuge to which you turn in times of sorrow. But is the hope 
of the resurrection your confidence and trust. Can you say 
with the Psalmist, "As for me I shall behold his face in 
righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 305 

likeness." Can you say with Paul, " Our conversation is in 
heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

Are you " looking for that blessed hope and the glorious 
appearing of the great God, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ." 
If this be a personal faith and a confident trust it shall give 
you a victory over the world, and bring you triumphant 
peace in the swellings of Jordan." 



TAKE HEED HOW YE HEAR. 

Luke 8 : 18. 

In this passage the Saviour admonishes us that very much 
depends upon the manner in which we hear the word 
of God. In truth every deed is right or wrong according to 
its manner, or spirit, or nature, or intention. It is not 
enough that we obey the letter : we must yield the obedience 
of a right spirit. " He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; 
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly ; whose praise is not of 
men, but of God." 

This is the meaning of the text. It is not enough that we 
hear ; we must take heed that we hear aright. 

Let us consider what is implied in this. As a matter of 
fact, there is not a little unprofitable hearing of the word of 
God. Paul complained that the Hebrews were " dull of 
hearing ' ' ; and Christ had occasion frequently to say reprov- 
ingly to his disciples, "Are ye yet without understanding?" 
"How is it that ye do not understand?" "Art thou a 
master in Israel, and knowest not these things? " Alas ! it 
is still true that " the word preached does not profit, not be- 
ing mixed with faith." 

Let us notice some of those things which vitiate our hear- 
ing of the word of God ; and some things essential to a right 
hearing of it. 



306 A MEMORIAL OF 

i. Many hear from accident. They have no settled pur- 
pose or habit in the matter. If perfectly convenient, or in 
society favoring an attendance upon worship, they go to the 
house of God ; but if otherwise, they do not go. 

Now it is barely possible that this accidental hearing may 
result in good. Sometimes a person, from sheer desperation, 
has strayed to the sanctuary and has found a blessing there ; 
the word of God has taken effect ; led the person to a knowl- 
edge of himself and to the faith and love of Jesus ; but it 
was prayer from some humble heart that sanctified it to this 
end, and made it " the power of God unto salvation." 

2. Others come from simple custom ; mere habit ; the bare 
force of education. They go to church on the Sabbath as 
they go to the shop on the week-day evenings ; to help fill 
out the Sabbath and make it tolerable. If it were the custom 
to go to the races on the Sabbath, as in France, they would 
as easily conform to that. 

. Now it is well when custom happens to be right ; but when 
you hear only from custom, your profiting will be in the line 
of custom, and you will have to be satisfied with custom as 
your reward. 

3. Others hear occasionally ; by spasms, fits, starts. Their 
consciences get galvanized by some affliction perhaps into 
a little sensibility, and so they attend church a few Sabbaths, 
and then fall off for months together. 

This is a bad sign. As soon as the spasm in the con- 
science is past, and the sting and smart of the chastisement 
is over, they go back into their old indifference and neglect. 

4. Some hear from curiosity. If there is anything that 
appeals to the love of novelty, anything singular or eccentric 
in the manner of the speaker, you will always see this wonder- 
seeking element in the church. Multitudes followed Lorenzo 
Dow simply to see his long beard (more a novelty then than 
now), and to witness his oddities. 

Some ministers cultivate singularity, and use coarse and 
vulgar phrases, to attract attention ; as if to gather a crowd 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 307 

were the final object of preaching. If you look into the 
Saturday papers of some of the cities, you will see pulpit ad- 
vertisements of this sensational type, appealing to this low 
and depraved curiosity. 

Many people have what the apostle calls " itching ears "; 
and the minister who has most ability to meet this disease 
will gather the greatest crowd. Multitudes go to Plymouth 
Church in Brooklyn, just for the sparkling wit with which 
Mr. Beecher seasons and lightens his discourses. 

I do not speak against vivacity, and pointed, pinching 
illustrations in the pulpit. But when people only go to 
church to be made to laugh, they will get little profit, and 
could be much better "exercised" and "edified" by the 
" Christie minstrels." 

5. Some people go to church merely for pleasure. It is a 
kind of sacred pastime ; the church a pleasure place to while 
away an hour and fifteen minutes. If the preacher be strong 
and intellectual, a class will go to church with the same relish 
with which they go to the "lecture "; the less religion and 
the more science and philosophy, the better for their purpose. 

I knew a young minister who drew around him so much 
of this material that the church came very nigh being swal- 
lowed up with it. Everybody liked him : Spiritualists, Swe- 
denborgians, Unitarians, Universalists, and Infidels. O, he 
was "such a splendid man." And everybody was "pleased 
and edified," save the more evangelical and spiritual part of 
the church ; they were famished, and mourned and wept. 

6. In many cases prejudice prevents a profitable hearing 
of the gospel. You have a little dislike to the preacher, and 
so nothing he may say, however good or true, does you any 
good. You think him " proud," or " aristocratic," or " un- 
social "; you see a " mote " here and a " beam " there, and 
so you close your ears. 

Even Nathanael said : " Can any good come out of Naza- 
reth ? " And the Jews said, " Can a prophet come out of 
Galilee?" 



308 A MEMORIAL OF 

Nothing is more unjust than prejudice. It is literally 
"prejudging." You make up your verdict upon suspicions 
or impressions or dislikes. Would you like to be disposed 
of in that way? " Judge not, that ye be not judged." It is 
sad that the truth should be rifled of its effect, or lose its 
sanctifying power through prejudice. But how often is this 
the case. 

" We saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we (pre- 
judged the case and) forbade him." But Christ said, you 
did a very wrong thing ; '•' forbid him not." " To his own 
master he standeth or falleth." "Judge nothing before the 
time " ; " the Lord is at hand." 

7. Then we have a class of captious, critical hearers, who 
do not get much profit from what they hear. They regard 
themselves as standards of orthodoxy, propriety, and fitness, 
and they measure every man and sermon by their rule. 

Some men think the gospel never preached unless the 
" five points of Calvinism " are distinctly enunciated ; others 
think the gospel not preached unless the whole code of 
morals is insisted on. One man thinks baptism should be 
put in every sermon. A high churchman wants endless 
changes rung on the church. A Sabbatarian wants similar 
prominence given to the Sabbath. 

A large class of men constitutionally are given to "hob- 
bies," and they are never edified unless their favorite hobby 
is presented. If it is not, they become censorious and fault- 
finding, and sit in judgment upon " the word of the Lord." 

8. But the most serious difficulty remains to be noticed ; 
and it is one which indicts by far the largest class of hearers. 
I mean i?idifference ; not inattention; not listlessness. I do 
not think inattention very common. The evil of which I 
speak is deeper than this. It is indifference of heart to 
things heard with respectful attention and intelligent in- 
terest. 

You appreciate the sermon ; are interested in the sermon, 
and commend the sermon ; but you do not so feel the sermon 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 309 

as to be constrained to " give to it the more earnest heed." 
This is the popular defect of our hearing — "indifference" 

Your physician leaves you medicine. He calls next day 
and inquires after it. " O," you say, " it was good, admir- 
able." "Well," he says, "how has it affected you?" 
" O, not at all." He would certainly conclude some defect 
in the prescription, or that you were in a bad way. So with 
this passive state of feeling under the faithful ministrations 
of the word of God. 

It is terrible when men can hear the fearful or joyful truths 
of the gospel with attention and interest, and yet with the 
most utter indifference and unconcern. Yes, unconcern ; 
that is the exact word. 

A sermon ought to work in a man's conscience like a med- 
ical irritant in the body. Or, if in a healthy state spiritually, 
it ought to nourish and quicken like food, and stimulate to 
all holy activities and charities. 

Unconcern / That is the great sin against the gospel. We 
hear it as though it did not concern us. 

How pertinent the admonition. " Take heed how ye hear." 
And now, what is the positive side of this subject ? 

i. First of all, we should hear the gospel as the word of 
God. Paul says the Thessalonians "received the gospel not 
as the word of man, but as it was in deed and in truth, the 
word of God." They received Paul as a messenger of God ; 
as speaking for God ; as coming in his name and by his au- 
thority. In other words, they acknowledged his apostleship. 
The ministry comes with the same authority. The gospel is 
no less the word of God now than then. When the old pro- 
phets came to the people, they said, boldly: "Hear the 
word of the Lord." And on this ground the gospel still 
claims to be heard with reverence. This is the first element 
of all right hearing - 

" God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints, 
and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about 
him." "I will hear what God the Lord will speak." 



310 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

Suppose each hearer were to come in this way — to hear 
what God will say. " One thing have I desired of the Lord." 
What is it, David ? " That I may dwell in the house of the 
Lord forever." Is that all? "No, that I may behold the 
beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his temple. ' ' 

Where there is not that deep-toned reverence for God and 
for the institutions of his worship and the ministrations of 
his word, there can be no right hearing. It is only as men 
hear God in his sanctuary that they worship. 

2. Another thing essential to a right hearing is humility ; 
meekness, docility, teachableness. Some are too wise to be 
taught. In religious matters the heart is naturally wise in its 
own folly, and strong in its weakness. "There is a gener- 
ation," Solomon says, "wise in their own eyes." And it 
has not passed away from the earth. 

When the friends of Job attempted to explain to him the 
cause of his afflictions, and sharpened their words of reproof 
against him, adding bitterness to his sorrow, Job replied in 
severe but merited irony, " Doubtless you are the people, and 
wisdom will die with you." " You assume to know all about 
God and his ways ; but I ha«ve some knowledge as well as 
you." 

This dogmatical spirit is very hostile to the gospel. It is, 
therefore, we are exhorted to " lay aside all malice and guile 
and hypocrisies and evil speakings, and with meekness to re- 
ceive the engrafted word." Hence, James says: " Be not 
many masters " (teachers). " Be swift to hear, slow to speak, 
slow to wrath"; not backward to speak, but humble, mod- 
est, gentle, persuasive in your speech. 

The Saviour enforced this same humility when he took a 
little child and set him in the midst, and said to James and 
Peter and John, who had fallen into a debate as to who 
should be the greatest: "Verily I say unto you, except a 
man receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in 
no case enter therein." You must be docile, teachable, 
learners rather than masters, and disciples rather than doc- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 31 1 

tors. " For one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are 
brethren." 

3. Another thing. Hear with self-application; for self- 
improvement. A minister went to his church on a stormy 
morning, and found but one man present. But he went 
through the services and preached the sermon just as if the 
usual congregation had been there. Before he could get 
down from the pulpit, his one hearer was gone, and he could 
not discover who he was. But some years after, in a distant 
locality, a stranger accosted him and asked if he remembered 
that stormy Sabbath when he preached to one man. He re- 
plied that he did, very well. "Well," said he, "so do I, 
and shall have occasion to bless God for it forever. I was 
your one hearer that day, and the sermon sent an arrow to 
my heart, that constrained me to fly to Christ for refuge. 
Every word of that sermon went to my heart, and said to me, 
thou art the many 

The truth was, he could not give the sermon away ; could 
not hear for others ; was constrained to hear for himself. But 
a great many hear for their neighbors ; pass off parts of the 
sermon on the right hand and left ; front and rear ; now to 
this pew ; now to that ; and now to the pews that are empty, 
regretting that the holders are not there to take their portion. 
But every sermon is as really addressed to you alone, as 
though there were not another person in the house. 

In a gold mine each man strives to get as many ounces as 
he can. In the scramble for wealth, no one feels he has any 
thing for his neighbor. He says, this is my good fortune, 
and I will make the most of it. O, if men would but heed 
the word of God in this way. 

Law and medical students carefully note down the lectures 
of the course for reference and use. Suppose you were to 
hear the gospel in this way ; make it a point to see how much 
good you could get out of every sermon you hf ar ! You 
would have a treasure at the year's end worth more than gold 
that perisheth. 



312 A MEMORIAL OF 

A rich man a short time since showed me a ten thousand 
dollar United States bond. "There," said he, "do you 
not wish your people would make you a present of that ? " 
I said : "Yes, sir; for it would do them good to give it. 
But," I said, "there is one thing I would prefer from my 
people, even to that ten thousand dollar United States bond ; 
and that is, a prayerful and practical acknowledgment of 
every sermon I preach ; so that I shall not be constrained to 
feel I have labored in vain, and spent my strength for 
naught. ' ' 

4. Finally : We must hear to obey and do the word of God. 
" Blessed," said one to Christ, " is the womb that bare thee, 
and the paps that thou hast sucked." " Rather," said Christ, 
"blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it." 
"Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." 
"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." "He 
that heareth my words and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me." "He that doeth righteousness is righteous." "If 
any man hear these sayings of mine and doeth them, he is 
like a man that builded his house upon a rock." 

It is time to close. "Whoso looketh into the perfect law 
of liberty and continueth therein, not being a forgetful 
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in 
his deeds." 

Take heed how ye hear. God says to us : " Incline your 
ear unto me, hear and your soul shall live." "Blessed are 
they that do his commandments, that they may have right to 
the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the 
city." 



ALBERT GALLATIN FALMEE, D. D. 313 



XX. 
A LECTURE. 

THE DIGNITY OF LABOR. 

Delivered before the Mechanics' and Working- 
men's Literary Association, of Stonington, Conn., 
March 20, 1846. 

Labor implies employment, toil, whether of body or mind. 
It is the opposite of idleness, indolence, sloth. We shall 
contemplate it, at this time, in its physical relations, as seen 
in the employment of the hands, and the various energies of 
the body. 

We do so, first, because this view is most in harmony with 
the character of this association ; and secondly, because there 
are reasons why labor, physical labor, should be placed 
before the public mind, in its legitimate relations and true 
dignity. 

The most important of these reasons, is, that labor, save 
in its mechanical character, is but little understood, and still 
less appreciated. Comparatively few, it is believed, would 
submit to it, but for imperious personal and social claims, 
which labor alone can meet. They regard the working life 
as their fate — as a sort of vassalage into which they have 
unfortunately been thrown, and from which, in the present 
arrangement of society, there can be no deliverance, save in 
the attainment of a fortune which shall raise them above the 
necessity of toil. Hence the struggle for wealth. Hence 
the morbid sensibility, which at the present period is mani- 
27 



314 A MEMORIAL OF 

festing itself in various schemes for the dissolution and reor- 
ganization of society. But so far from sympathizing with 
this sentimentality, we believe it to be well that the cast off 
society is such, in its social relations and claims, as to secure 
a healthful amount of physical exertion from the great mass 
of community. 

While it is admitted that in individual cases, and perhaps 
of some entire classes, there is demanded an excess of toil, 
still these cases are comparatively few, and by no means 
counterbalance the immense good accruing to the many 
from vigorous labor. 

That society in its civil relations might be more favorable 
to labor — that labor might be more abundantly available — 
is doubtless true ; but this is to be secured, not so much by 
any change in our social or civil condition, as by restoring 
labor to ' that elevated rank and dignity, so evidently as- 
signed it by the Creator. Here as elsewhere, the cause of 
disease and derangement, which may at any time appear 
upon the surface of society, is to be sought and found, not 
upon the surface itself — not in associational or civil legisla- 
tion abstractly — but in a violation of one or more of the ele- 
mentary laws of our being. There are certain constitutional 
laws, which in proportion as they are violated in the indi- 
vidual, the whole body politic becomes diseased and de- 
ranged. Take for illustration the now well-established fact 
that vaccination is a preventative to that scourge of the race. 
This is a most benevolent arrangement. But let it be vio- 
lated, from ignorance or any other cause, by individuals, and 
in proportion to the extent of such a violation must society 
suffer. So with the evil of intemperance. Philanthropists 
sought in vain to stay the torrent, till they returned to 
nature's simple law — that poison is never necessary to a man 
in health — and began to persuade the world to act upon 
nature's teachings. So of medical science and practice — 
that man is the best practitioner who most successfully 
aids nature in throwing off disease. And so with equal 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 315 

truth, that man is the greatest philanthropist, who in his 
sympathy for his race, and in his exertions to ameliorate 
their condition, follows most carefully the elementary laws 
of the human constitution. If these are violated, however 
beautiful may be the theory of improvement — however in- 
viting and smiling its scenery, as touched by the pencil of 
a warm and generous imagination — yet, when practically 
tested, when reduced to real life, when it comes in to sat- 
isfy the cravings of humanity, it will be found much to 
resemble in its results those pictured towns and cities of 
the far West, which, though beautiful on paper when fresh 
from the hands of a New York artist, seldom fail to be asso- 
ciated in the end with disappointment, bankruptcy, and 
suffering. 

The truth is, as he is the best Christian who with the sim- 
plicity of a child sits at the feet of the Son of God to receive 
religious truth, so that man is the wisest who, touching his 
physical and social wants, regards most attentively the voice 
of nature — treasures up her instructions, and blesses himself 
and the world by practicing the same. 

Guided by this principle, we proceed to show that labor 
is a law of our being. 

Whether we regard the destructions of the physical econ- 
omy, or the collateral teachings of revelation, nothing can 
be more evident than that employment is the appropriate 
inheritance of man. Even in a state of innocence, it was 
his delightful work to have care of the trees of Paradise, and 
give names to the various animals by which he found himself 
surrounded. 

Now, however lightly some may regard these beautiful 
intimations of the original employment of man, to others 
they are deeply interesting, since they are strictly in harmony 
with what are known to be the laws of our physical organi- 
zation, and clearly indicate that peculiar kind of labor, 
which in connection with obedience to moral laiv and reli- 
gious truth, is destined to work out both the material and 



316 A MEMORIAL OF 

spiritual renovation of the world — to make the desert bloom 
again like Eden, and the wilderness blossom like the garden 
of God. 

We repeat it — Man's divinely appointed work, whether 
as indicated by natural or revealed truth, is the tilling of 
the earth for the support of himself and those domestic 
animals which Providence has committed equally to his care 
and use. 

Let us not be understood as intimating that the various 
arts are not in themselves legitimate and valuable — that 
trade, commerce, and the professions, are necessarily viola- 
tions of the laws of nature — that the mechanic, the lawyer, 
the physician, the clergyman, are not doing the work as- 
signed them by their peculiar bodily or mental structure, or 
by the higher designation of religion itself. We only claim 
that the tilling of the earth is emphatically the work of man 
— the great staple employment of the human family, and 
that the various arts and professions are but exceptions to 
the general law, and should hence be regarded as subordi- 
nate to what, from causes beyond our control, must come 
more and more to be the exclusive business of the great mass 
of mankind. 

It is, however, very obvious that these exceptions to the 
law of agricultural labor, have been multiplied to a danger- 
ous extent. Here, as in the moral economy, there is a strong 
propensity in man to violate the laws of God. For the 
happy, healthful employment assigned him of heaven he 
is dispossd to substitute one of his own choosing ; and the 
choice is often made without any peculiar indication of 
genius, and in violation of the laws of physical and mental 
adaptation. The consequence is, that while the field has 
been deserted, the use of the plough and hoe abandoned, the 
mechanical, mercantile, and professional vocations have 
been overstocked and over-run with a horde of unskillful, 
inefficient, poverty-stricken, half-starved incumbents. Men 
who in the cultivation of the soil would have labored ad- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 317 

vantageously to themselves and families, by seeking some 
other calling, to which they were wholly unfitted, have been 
able only to meet their immediate passing wants, leaving to 
their sons as their only inheritance a " trade," to which 
perhaps they are as little fitted, and still less inclined than 
their fathers. 

Many a man may be seen awkwardly attempting to smooth 
boards, and vainly attempting to make the crooked edges 
straight, who would have handled skillfully the various imple- 
ments of husbandry, and worked with decided profit in that 
noblest of all employments — the producing of something 
from the earth. 

The same remarks are applicable to the professions. Law 
and medicine are everywhere overstocked — that is to say, 
there are more lawyers and physicians than both the real and 
imaginary wants of the people demand. Great numbers of 
professional men are wholly unfitted for their work, either 
by natural or acquired abilities, and if employed at all are 
employed to the great detriment of the people, and to the 
neglect and discouragement of native genius and true pro- 
fessional worth. Hence originates empyricism, in all its 
various forms. Men commit themselves to a profession * but 
finding themselves wanting in talent and skill adequate to 
a successful pursuit of it, turn to what in a majority of cases 
seems to be more in harmony with their peculiar moral organ- 
ism, and, vulture-like, literally prey upon the very vitals of 
their fellow-beings. Hence the quackery with which the 
world is filled. Patent medicines, composed of what ingre- 
dients it is presumed the inventor knows as little as he 
cares, are not only retailed in phials and bottles, but whole- 
saled in casks, boxes, and cargoes ; enough almost, it would 
seem, of these noxious drugs are annually poured down the 
throats of the people, both to freight and float the American 
navy. 

In this way valuable talents and solid acquirements have 
been often discouraged and driven from their appropriate* field 



318 A MEMORIAL OF 

of labor, to make room for a class of unprincipled dema- 
gogues, who are too lazy to work or learn, and skillful only 
in deception, fraud, and crime. 

It might seem that this matter would regulate itself, and 
that professional intelligence might stand in successful com- 
petition with ignorance and knavery ; and so it would, if 
talent and worth did not need to be fed and clothed. But 
the highest degree of professional ability are not unfre- 
quently found associated with the deepest poverty, and can- 
not afford to wait the slow but certain issues of experience, 
and from necessity must often turn to other employments for 
sustenance. Then add to this, that the people not only 
love to be humbugged, but are even willing to pay a good 
price for it, together with the strange credulity with which 
they are accustomed to receive whatever is new, and we 
have the secret of that ephemeral success which greets the 
claims of these false apostles, whether of medicine, religion, 
or law. The same remarks are true in relation to the arts. ' 
We have bungling artists of every grade, from the man who 
botches together a shoe, up to the worst of all impositions 
in the arts — that of daubing, instead of painting the human 
face. 

But these evils will be corrected. The onward, and at the 
present time, rapid march of science, will drive out from the 
arts and professions this worthless clan of speculators, and 
hasten the day when the law of the gospel shall be literally 
and rigidly enforced — that, " He who will not work, neither 
shall he eat." The invention of labor-saving machines in- 
evitably tends to this result. If these are multiplied for a 
quarter of a century to come, as they have been for half of 
a century past, there will be left little to be done by the 
hands of operatives. With the oversight of a few skilled 
artists, machinery will soon do what the great body of me- 
chanics are now doing ; and consequently many of them must 
seek some other employment. The power of invention, 
which has wrought so entire a revolution in the manufacture 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 319 

of cloths, is invading every other branch of mechanical in- 
dustry, and must, in the course of a few years, work similar 
results. To whatever department of labor machinery is ap- 
plied, it must furnish facilities with which the hands of a man 
will not be able to compete. Incredulity itself has ceased to 
fix bounds to the inventive power of the human mind. It 
will never pause in its work of discovery, until the laws of 
nature, in their efficiency for the necessities and conve- 
niences of life have been thoroughly investigated. And in 
proportion as these are brought to light and applied, will the 
demand for the physical agency be diminished. The same is 
true, to a somewhat less extent perhaps, of the professions. 
Medicine, at least in the department of therapeutics, is con- 
stantly verging toward a practical simplicity, that will at 
length become a thorough remedy for quackery, as well as 
for that multitude of embryo practitioners who now subsist 
on the imaginary ills of the people. As light advances and 
people begin to understand that health is not a matter of 
chance, but the result of obedience to established laws, and 
that disease, at least in its incipient stages, is most effectually 
remedied by a regard to the spontaneous suggestions of na- 
ture, the demand for professional aid will come to be propor- 
tionately less, and the practice at length confined to its 
appropriate sphere of disease in its more complicated forms. 
The time is not far distant, and may it speedily come, when 
only those men will be wanted as physicians, who are worthy 
of the confidence of the people. The remainder, and it will 
not be small, will be compelled to seek employment some- 
where else.* 

* This is illustrated by the well-known fact, that while people in chronic 
complaints, which are not immediately threatening, can afford to tamper 
with quacks and nostrums, as soon as they are really sick, and begin to 
feel the gripings of disease, they seek for help from another quarter. The 
path of interest, therefore, as well as duty, on the part of well-informed 
physicians, is to rebuke the imaginary ills of the people, and to shed upon 
society the light of truth in relation to everything pertaining to this most 
important department of professional labor. 



320 A MEMORIAL OF 

The same will be true in relation to clergymen.. In reli- 
gion, no less than in other things, the time has already come 
when a man cannot make a profession a vehicle to honor, 
wealth, or even employment, while wanting in talent to sus- 
tain its responsibilities. The church needs ministers, that is, 
men that can and will serve her, and not a class of men who, 
in virtue of their professional rank and standing, demand, as 
a homage to their ordinational investments, that they should 
be " ministered unto." Cases are yearly occurring, of per- 
sons retiring from the ministry, because, evidently, the 
church can well afford to spare them. 

We have pursued this thought somewhat at length, in 
order to show that the tendency of things on every hand is 
to force men back to what we believe emphatically to be the 
great and noble work of man, that of cultivating the earth. 
Men must have employment, and God in his providences is 
hastening on the time when the primitive order of things 
shall be restored, and man shall bring up from the soil his 
bread with the sweat of his brow. 

The same inevitable tendencies are to be seen in every 
kind of enterprise — in commerce and national interchanges, 
as well as in mechanical industry and manufactures. Science, 
in its universal diffusion, is everywhere prostrating monopo- 
lies ; controlling by an irresistible power the movement of 
nations ; shaping and harmonizing their policy, in despite of 
themselves, with the truest interest and highest hopes of the 
race as indicated in the purposes and promises of the gospel. 
Like the sun in the firmament, science will ere long shed its 
light upon all, in procuring liberally the blessings and com- 
forts of life. Its necessary, and we may add, gracious ten- 
dency, is so to reduce the cost of the manufacture of the raw 
article as to place it, when .manufactured, within the reach 
of all, and thus to transfer the chief value to the article in its 
crude state ; for in proportion as the use of an article is 
increased by the cheapness of its manufacture, will be the 
demand for it in its raw state at the hands of the producer. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 321 

When, therefore, machinery shall have been brought to 
that perfection, where but comparatively few will be needed 
to oversee its movements, there still will be left for the la- 
borer one resource, and so far as we can now see, only one — 
the cultivation of the earth. Here is a field which science 
never will invade, save as the servant of the laborer. Al- 
though the manufacture of an article after it has been pro- 
duced from the earth may be almost indefinitely hastened, 
there is no cause to fear that means will ever be discovered 
by which a bushel of grain will be produced in a less num- 
ber of days, weeks, or months, than it now is. The laws of 
production, whether in the vegetable or animal kingdom, are 
fixed laws, and doubtless in harmony with all the higher 
and undeveloped principles and powers of nature. The 
present periods of productive increase must continue un- 
changed. As there has been, so there will continue to be, a 
time to sow and a time to reap, a time to scatter and a time 
to gather, with the need of intermediate culture. Experience 
has already shown that he who in agriculture attempts to 
hasten the established process of nature, does so at the for- 
feiture of the reward of his labor ; for the earth, as if indig- 
nant at the insult, will not yield its increase. 

Science will doubtless, more and more, contribute her aid 
in the preparing and dressing of the earth, in the cultivating 
and enriching of its soils, and preparing of its production for 
consumption ; but, after all, the husbandman must patiently 
wait nature's steady and comparatively tardy changes, and 
with assiduous care, and to a certain extent, with laborious 
toil and a helping hand 3 if he would hope to receive her 
blessings in the golden fruits of a luxuriant harvest. Here, 
then, is an asylum for the laborer — a temple from whose 
shrines the progress of science will never force him. Because 
the earth, with its hills, valleys, and plains, is nature's own 
kingdom, where her laws are absolute and unconflicting. If 
science enters here, she will come-to aid the laborer, to cheer 
him in his toil, to render the earth more fruitful, to furnish 



322 A MEMORIAL OF 

him with wealth, leisure, and relaxation for the improvement 
of his mind and cultivation of his heart. 

This will be more clearly seen, by regarding labor in its 
relations to civil economy. 

The true wealth of a nation consists primarily in its soils, 
and secondarily in the cultivation of its soils. All other 
wealth is artificial, and the result of conventional policy. 
Mines and manufactures, in their relation to the established 
habits and usages of society, are valuable ; but gold, silver, 
and copper, with the finest of cotton, linen, and woolen 
fabrics, would in themselves furnish but a poor repast to a 
man perishing with hunger. Valuable as these things now 
are in their artificial connection with society, available as 
they may now be in procuring by exchange the produc- 
tions of the earth for the support of the body, yet when re- 
duced to their inherent value, they are of but very little im- 
portance. This is seen in cases of famine ; especially in 
besieged cities, where the prince no less than the slave, and 
the man of millions no less than the beggar, must perish from 
actual starvation. The man, in such a case, with a barrel of 
meal, or a hundred pounds of meat, is richer by far than the 
man of princely fortune, who literally starves amidst his 
heaps of worthless coin. Here the impotency of this artificial 
wealth is seen and felt. A cup of milk, a pound of bread, is 
worth more in these circumstances than pounds of the 
purest gold. 

The soil, then, as associated with productive labor, is the 
foundation of social and national prosperity. Man needs 
first to be fed. The body must be replenished with proper 
aliment. Food and drink are the primary wants of man. 
He can accommodate himself to the severities of climate, to 
the winds and snows and frosts of winter, or to the burn- 
ing rays and scorching heat of a tropical sun ; but in no 
clime can he conveniently accommodate himself to hunger 
and thirst. He can dispense with houses, furniture, luxuries, 
and all the artificial adjuncts of social and domestic life, but 



A LBER T GA LLA TIN PALMER, D. D. 323 

cannot well dispense with wheat, rye, Indian corn, and po- 
tatoes. 

Let us not be understood as undervaluing the present ar- 
rangement of society, nor as denying the utility of the im- 
provements which are so rapidly multiplying around us. 
Their value, however, is relative, not inherent ; but based 
upon the productions of the soil. Hence the important rela- 
tion which labor — the working of the soil — holds to political 
economy. That kind of labor is evidently of the first im- 
portance, which anticipates the first and most. general wants 
of the individual — the race. Artificial wants can never arise 
till natural wants are supplied. But when these are met, 
there is left room for the indulgence of an innocent, rational, 
and useful taste, in the arrangement of the circumstances of 
the individual, and of society. Here, the arts, mechanical 
labor and commercial changes, take their rise and find their 
true value. The cultivator of the soil erects a house, or what 
is the same thing, employs a mechanic to do it, and in ex- 
change gives him the surplus produce of the earth. In other 
words, he feeds the mechanic and his family, not only for the 
present, while in his immediate service, but by a duly grad- 
uated compensation, for the future. But let it be remem- 
bered that if the earth had not been first tilled and made 
productive, the house could not have been built, and the 
mechanic could not have been employed. What is thus true 
of the individual must be true of society. 

Hence, if it would be a wretched policy for a man to em- 
ploy his time in the manufacture of fabrics wherewith to 
adorn his person, or of costly furniture wherewith to fill his 
house, while himself and family were perishing by gradual 
but certain starvation, it is surely a policy no less wretched, 
for a government to employ the energies of a people in the 
manufacturing of the luxuries and superfluities of life, while 
they are perishing because the simplest wants of nature are 
not more than half satisfied. 

A sound national policy, therefore, will regard the culti- 



324 A MEMORIAL OF 

vation of the earth as the basis of its prosperity, and seek to 
furnish encouragement and protection to mechanical and 
manufacturing industry in the increasing productive wealth 
of its soil. 

We speak of a national in distinction from a governmen- 
tal policy. Rulers and governments may become rich by 
enormous taxations, and other outrages upon the rights of 
the governed ; but the increase of a revenue beyond the ac- 
tual wants of the government, whether by means direct or 
indirect, is but so much unjustly wrested from the individual, 
and but another name for robbery and plunder. 

England is said to be a rich and powerful nation. But 
her wealth, from necessity perhaps, on account of the scant- 
iness of her soil, has been the wealth of manufacturing, and 
not of producing.* She has lived and grown rich upon the 
artificial, and not upon the real wants of the race. And 
what is the result? Let the world mark it and receive in- 
struction. With an agricultural basisin no way proportion- 
able to her manufacturing interests, the result is that one- 
half of her population are to-day perishing with hunger, in 
a condition of social wretchedness unparalleled in the rec- 
ords of civilization. And all this the result of a policy which 
has sought the elevation of the few at the expense of the 
many — the resources of wealth and power in the unrequited 
toils of her poverty stricken and half-starved children. 
Making the world the market for her fabrics, and shutting 
her ports against the productions of other countries, she re- 
duced her laboring classes to the lowest extremes of poverty. 

But a brighter day is dawning upon England, and through 
her upon the world.f - Compelled, at length, by the stern 

* Many are of the opinion that the manufacturing interest has already 
been carried too far ; but as an affair of practical business, we all know 
that it passes the power of conventional policy to arrest its growth. — 
Spectator. 

t Sir Robert Peel's position is one of proud, but terrible responsibility. 
The value of a perfectly free trade in provisions, is beginning to present 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 325 

necessities of her condition to change her policy, she seems 
about to adopt one more in harmony with justice and the in- 
terests of the race. Having pursued her system of exclu- 
siveness and governmental elevation to the extreme of its 
practical workings, and found it fraught with immense evil, 
she turns to the only remedy, and permits the producing na- 
tions around her to come in and feed her starving population. 
As she has made the world the market for her manufactures, 
so she is constrained to offer herself to the world as the 
market of its agricultural productions. Had she adopted 
this policy years since, her poor to-day, instead of perishing 
for bread, would be in a comparatively thriving condition \ 
blessed, not barely with the necessities, but with many of the 
comforts and conveniences of life. 

It seemed necessary to say thus much upon this subject to 
illustrate the relation of labor to social and civil economy. 
And in the light of these facts we ask, where are the sources 
of social prosperity — of national wealth ? Where but among 
the hills, and valleys, and plains, and meadows, and forests, 
of our wide-spread country, as they are subjected to the 
active, productive industry of the laboring classes?* The 
man who produces from the earth a bushel of grain, whether 
for his own or another's consumption, contributes so much 
toward the national wealth ; and every additional bushel 
produced, goes to make up that aggregate of productive cap- 
ital upon which an extended manufacturing and commercial 
interest can alone safely be based. 

If the views presented be correct, then in political economy, 

itself to the nation in its real character and dimensions. It is not by giv- 
ing a monopoly in owe food market to the landholders of these little islands, 
that agricultural pursuits are to be maintained in their natural and healthy 
proportions . — Spectator. 

* As you reduce labor, you reduce the national wealth, which is the sum 
of your productive industry. Who can estimate the value of national la- 
bor ? A poor man's labor is his capital. If he earns $120 per annum, that 
is equal to a capital of $2,000 at 6 per cent. — Stewart's Speech. 
28 



326 A MEMORIAL OF 

labor, in its relation to the soil, occupies a place of primary 
rank and dignity; secondary to this is mechanical industry 
and skill ; and then commercial enterprise in all its various 
forms and modifications. Between these several branches of 
industrial pursuit there need be no' controversy.* When 
rightly viewed they are but a fraternity of interests which, by 
a kindly intercourse and reciprocal exchange, may powerfully 
aid each other. Least of all should mechanical industry 
assume an attitude of hostility to the agricultural. Nor let 
the farmer be alarmed at the progress of the manufacturing 
interest, since it opens to him a market for the products of 
the soil, and in exchange lays at his feet the conveniences 
of life.f And here is seen what will come more and more 
to be realized in this country — the high and dignified inde- 
pendence of productive labor. Science on the one hand, 
will so lighten the task of the laborer that there shall be no 
need of excessive toil, and on the other hand, so reduce the 
cost of manufacturing, that the elegancies even of civilized 
life, in ample proportion, shall be within his reach. So, 
equally elevated above the pressure of want and the need of 
exhausting labor, with the improvements of society at his 
command, the man who possesses and cultivates from one to 
one hundred acres of land will be of all men the most inde- 
pendent, and may be of all men the most happy. 

It is time to pass to another view of this subject. The 
moral influence of labor is so obvious as scarcely to need 
illustration. A neighborhood, a state, a nation, released 
from the claims of labor, without special restraining influ- 
ences, would soon fall into decay from the demoralizing 

* Habent quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cognatione quadam 
inter se continenter. 

f By increasing manufacturing establishments, you increase the demand 
for agricultural produce, and of course increase its price ; and on the other 
hand, by increasing the supply of manufactured goods, you so reduce their 
price, that the farmer is enabled to sell for more and buy for less. — Stew- 
art's Speech. 



ALBERT GALLATIN" PALMER, D. D. 327 

power of indolence. Here is one of the great personal, 
social, and national dangers of wealth. Wealth places a man 
above the actual necessity of toil, and thence induces habits 
of dissipation, extravagance, and luxury; or, if it does not 
result in these extremes, it seldom fails to induce a mental 
dissipation, scarcely less depraved in its character, and 
scarcely less hostile to our social and moral interests. If 
labor is evidently a law of nature, based upon the wants of 
our physical organism, essential to its healthy and perfect 
development, so it is equally a law of God, essential in no 
small degree to the healthful and perfect development of 
man's moral constitution. 

The same law which sanctifies rest — cessation from work 
one day in seven — clearly recognizes labor as the general 
law of man, to which the Sabbath forms an exception. It 
takes for granted that every man will have daily employment. 
It is not occasional labor which the Bible recognizes, or 
which the laws of the physical constitution demand ; but 
daily, vigorous exercise as essential to a sound mind in a 
sound body. In the light of religious truth, an idle man 
cannot be a moral man ; much less, a Christian. Solomon, 
whose wise and weighty sayings, upon this as well as upon 
many other subjects of moral bearing and practical importance 
we should do well often to consult, speaks thus : " I went by 
the field of the slothful, and the vineyard of the man void of 
understanding ; and lo ! it was all grown over with thorns, 
and nettles covered the face of it, and the stone wall thereof 
was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well ; I 
looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, 
yet a little slumber, yet a little folding of the hands to sleep." 
Such is the spirit of indolence. What is its reward ? "So 
shall thy poverty come upon thee as one that travaileth, and 
thy want as an armed man." What a truthful description, 
both of the character and consequences of improvidence, as 
not unfrequently seen in our own day — our own country — our 
own town. But the fruits of industry are the reverse of this. 



328 A MEMORIAL OF 

The rest of the laboring man is sweet There is nothing 
better for a man than that he should make his soul enjoy 
good in his labor. And that a man should eat and drink of 
his own labor, this is declared to be the gift of God. 

If we turn to the New Testament,. we shall find the law 
of labor still more explicitly revealed and authoritatively 
enforced. Here we are commanded to work with our own 
hands.* This is very specific — to be quiet and do our own 
business, that we may walk honestly toward them who are 
without ; that is, pay our debts and be above dependence. 

Paul declares that while among the Thessalonians he 
commanded that if any man would not work, neither should 
he eat; and then adds: "We hear that there are some 
among you that walk disorderly." What is the crime? 
What the Bible, what the morality of the gospel makes as 
crime — idleness — they worked not at all. What is the 
apostolic admonition? Hear it : " Now them that are such 
we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with 
quietness they work and eat their own bread." Here is no 
sickly and vitiated sympathy, either with the spirit or conse- 
quences of indolence ; but decided, wholesome rebuke. And 
what is the rule of discipline for this offense? " If any man 
obey not our word by this epistle, note that man and have 
no company with him, that he may be ashamed.*" Stringent 
as the law may seem to be, it was not more so than the case 
demanded ; nor has it, we believe, become so obsolete that 
its application, with all its stringency, would not work both 
as a powerful purgative and sanative for many of the disor- 
ders with which even Christian communities are often in- 
fected. 

The want of steady employment is the source of many of 

* Not only are we bound by the law of the gospel to employment, but 
to a useful employment — " the thing which is good." We may not, for 
instance, make or vend ardent spirits, or in any way implicate our capital 
therein. [See an interesting article in the Norwich " Reporter," upon 
the guilt of renting buildings for the sale of ardent spirits.] 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 329 

our social and domestic evils. In villages, especially, not a 
few are in the habit of spending a large portion of their 
unemployed time in a species of lounging idleness — sitting 
about in the shops, to the no small annoyance of those who 
have employment, entertaining themselves and others whom 
they can entertain, with the passing gossip of the day — a 
truly dignified employment ! — one every way worthy of a 
rational, intelligent Christian mind ! For this evil, in its 
relations to religious society, the discipline of Paul is not too 
severe. Where there is no talebearer, strife ceaseth. One of 
the old writers quaintly but truly says : " An idle man's head 
is the devil's workshop. 

Go into our larger towns and cities, and trace the history 
of crime ; and in nine cases out of ten you will find it orig- 
inating in habits of idleness — in an indisposition to labor. 
And not unfrequently these habits are formed in chilhood,* 
during the years of apprenticeship, or clerkship, in this very 
practice of lounging away the hours of relaxation from the 
more immediate duties of their calling. Relaxation from 
the severities of labor, is doubtless desirable, and if rightly 

* " Mothers, if you would train up your children to be useful members 
of society, keep them from running about the streets. The great school 
of juvenile vice is the street. There the urchin learns the vulgar oath, or 
the putrid obscenity. For one lesson at the fireside he has a dozen in the 
kennel. Thus are scattered the seeds of falsehood, gambling, theft, and 
violence. Mothers, as you love your own flesh and blood, make your chil- 
dren cling to the hearthstone. Love home yourself; sink the roots deep 
among your domestic treasures ; set an example in this, as in all things, 
which your offspring may follow. It is a great error that children may be 
left to run wild in every sort of street temptation for several years, and 
that it will then be time enough to break them of it. This horrid mistake 
makes half our spendthrifts, thieves, and drunkards. No man would raise 
a colt or an ox on such a principle ; no man would suffer the weeds to grow 
in his gar !en for any length of time, saying he could eradicate them at 
any time. Look to this matter, parents ; see, more especially, that your 
children are not out at night, loitering around some coffee house. Mothers, 
make your children love home, and by all means encourage them to love 
you better than all other human beings." 



330 A MEMORIAL OF 

improved highly beneficial, both to the body and mind; but 
if time he squandered, as in many cases it is, it were far 
better, both for the individual and society, that he should 
have constant employment. The majority of laborers would 
doubtless prefer steady work, if for no other motive than its 
reward, and if their preference might in any way be grati- 
fied, the moral influence would be most happy.* The man 
who is at his work during the day, and with his family at 
night, will not be kkely to contract habits of profligacy and 
immorality. 

One of the most happy and effective preventatives to many 
of the lesser crimes, especially those which obtain among 
the miserably poor, is to furnish them with employment as 
the means of earning their bread. f The privileges of avail- 
able labor are seldom found associated with gross immorality. 
But where the hope of reward is doubtful, or so small as to 
furnish no excitement to effort, men sink down into a state 
of reckless indolence, and become the victims of a grovelling 
sensuality. 

* The moral influence of labor is happily illustrated in the 
character of New England as contrasted with some other 
sections of our country. New England is emphatically the 
land of toil and laborious industry, Pier rock-bound hills, 

* In some of the towns of Massachusetts, where the fisheries are the 
principal employment during the mild part of the year, the condition of the 
people has been much improved by the introduction of the manufacture of 
boots and shoes, thus affording steady employment. 

| It is believed that that unfortunate class know as paupers, if regarded 
with that kindness and encouragement due to humanity, would in a ma- 
jority of cases contribute not a little to their own comfort and support. 
The experiment has been made in many towns with decided success. The 
town farm is the home of the poor — they are made to feel that it is theirs. 
A steward is employed at a stated salary to aid them in cultivating it. In 
this way an interest is awakened, they feel that they have something they 
Ltill can call their own — the farm and buildings are kept in good repair, 
and the result is, they sustain themselves. The present way of disposing 
of them is as inhuman as it is unchristian. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 331 

and almost equally rock-bound valleys, have been made pro- 
ductive only by the patient and persevering toil of her own 
hardy sons. But if she is eminently the land of industry, 
she is scarcely less so of morality and religion. If energy 
and strength are distinctive features in her physical de- 
velopment, they are no less so in her mental and moral. 

While feebleness, effeminacy, a sickly morality, and at 
best but a vitiated piety, characterize the whole population 
of the South, the morality of New England is as fresh and 
bracing as her mountain airs — strong and impulsive as her 
mountain torrents. 

Land of the forest and the rock, 

Of dark blue lake and mighty liver, 

Of mountains reared aloft to mock 

The storm's career, the lightning's shock, 

Our own green land forever ! 

Land of the beautiful and brave ! 

The freeman's home, the martyr's grave ! 

The nursery of giant men, 

Whose deeds have linked with every glen 

The romance of some warrior's dream. 

The same, with some slight shades of difference, is true of 
Scotland, as well as every other spot where labor has been 
regarded in its true dignity, or encouraged with its appro- 
priate reward. 

Even where slave labor does not exist, as at the West, but 
where the almost spontaneous productions of the soil renders 
labor less imperious, the' morals of men have been found 
rapidly to decline. It is a historical fact, that in every age 
and country the fertile and well-watered places have been 
the nurseries of luxury and vice, while morality and religion 
have flourished amid the comparatively barren and moun- 
tainous portions of the earth. The reason is, labor is favor- 
able to virtue — indolence to vice. An industrious people 
cannot be an immoral people, and scarcely irreligious, pro- 
vided the means of religious culture are afforded them. 



332 4- MEMORIAL OF 

Agriculture and mechanical industry, controlled in its spirit 
by high moral principle and religious faith, furnishes a most 
interesting illustration of the harmony that will be found 
everywhere to exist between the physical and moral laws of 
the universe. Social peace and domestic happiness are the 
invariable fruits of this divinely appointed union. Personal 
industry, based upon individual wants and domestic and 
social obligations — this is the order of nature — this the law 
of Heaven. 

When God created man, he created him an individual, 
and by a subsequent creation bound him to the family rela- 
tion. This order will never be revoked. It could not be 
without annihilating the race. Man's peculiar physical, social, 
and moral constitution demands it, and bids us beware how 
we trifle with God's appointments. Associational labor, 
whatever might be its pecuniary advantages, would be found, 
according to the system of Fourier, hostile not only to social 
and moral elevation, but destructive of that individuality of 
character which it is our dignity to cherish, and of that 
manly independence which our civil institutions are so well 
calculated to develop. Its inevitable tendency must be to 
sink the individual in the community — to reduce the mass of 
society to a passive state — if not of physical, yet of mental 
vassalage. For when a man is not under the necessity of 
acting for himself, he will scarcely take the trouble of think- 
ing for himself. The transfer of labor, in its responsibility, 
from the individual to a constituted agency, would be fol- 
lowed by an effeminacy of character that would sooner or 
later inevitably subvert our social and religious institutions. 

So far from accelerating, it would evidently arrest the 
march of science and mechanical invention, and draw over 
the race the darkness of a materialism which never rises 
above the groveling sentiment — "Let us eat and drink, for 
to-morrow we die. " No; if you would elevate and improve 
man, you must elevate and improve him in his individual 
character. If you would strengthen and invigorate that 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 333 

character, you must throw it upon its own resources and task 
its energies to the utmost. Nothing is needed to secure 
the advancement of the race but to open the path to elevation, 
and hold up to view the rewards of exertion and toil. The 
history and present standing of our own country is a con- 
vincing illustration of this. 

What have communities done for the improvement of so- 
ciety ? What have the Shakers done to elevate the condi- 
tion of man — if we except the vending of germless garden 
seeds and the manufacturing of that wonderful triumph of 
the arts — corn brooms ? What are the laboring classes among 
them, but well-fed, coarsely clad, ignorant serfs? Who can 
suppose that a "a community" could have subjected to its 
present practical efficiency the power of steam, cutting 
against wind and tide our rivers, lakes, and oceans, or flying 
with the swiftness of an eagle over our valleys, hills, and 
mountains ? No ! it required individual thought, awakened 
perhaps by want, and stimulated by the hopes of reward, to 
bring to light and apply to practical purposes these hidden 
laws and powers of nature. 

But such a system can never prevail to any extent in this 
country. There is too much sovereignty of mind — too 
much of the manhood of humanity amongst us to admit of 
it. It might do for a race of men whose anxieties never rise 
above their bodily wants — for men who can conceive of no 
other paradise than that of fire-proof buildings, surrounded 
with gardens and orchards, with meadows and woodlands 
beyond ; but for Anglo-Saxon Americans, who from exper- 
ience know the peculiar blessedness of their own firesides, 
and the high independence of their well-earned possessions — 
for the sovereign fathers, and sons, and wives, and daughters 
of our own New England, whose individuality of character, 
independence of thought, and power of invention, have be- 
come proverbial the world over, it will never do. 

O never may a son ot thine, 
Where'er his wandering steps incline, 



334 A MEMORIAL OF 

Forget the sky that bent above 
His childhood like a dream of love. 

No ; associational labor, in its popular signification, must 
combine with other elements than the stern puritanical mo- 
rality that New England furnishes. Its feeble organism could 
not long bear up against our chilling blasts, much less brave 
with our hardy sons the storms and billows of the ocean. 
We hardly believe that our seamen, who with unparalleled 
enterprise and heroism have braved the perils of the deep to 
secure the means of social and domestic enjoyment, will be 
content to merge their individuality of interest and family 
relationship in what is called " a community. " We hardly 
believe that those who are conscientiously attached to their 
own religious views, will be persuaded to merge them by a 
compromise in the religious views of "a community," or to 
change them for a philosophy * upon which it is said this 
community must be based. 

It cannot be. God has stamped upon man an individual- 
ity of being which it were scarcely less than sacrilege to vio- 
late. He has established the family relation as the basis of 
domestic and social order, and the earliest incipient tenden- 
cies towards its subversion should meet with the withering 
rebuke of every Christian man and Christian community. 

The experience of six thousand years, during which the 
family relation has prevailed over the whole earth, and its 
divinity been acknowledged by almost every nation, kindred, 
tribe, and tongue, whether savage or civilized, pagan or 
Christian, will scarcely be exchanged for the wild specula- 
tions of a few theorizing, self-styled philanthropists. 

Associational labor, based upon personal right of property, 
without aiming to break up our present social relations, 
might secure the ordinary advantages of combination j but 
anything beyond this is perfectly visionary. Individual 

* Doubtless there must be a religion or philosophy at the bottom of all 
this. — Horace Greeley, before the Mechanics' and Workingmeri s Associa- 
tion, Stoninrton, 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 335 

enterprise, after all, if not in every case so immediately avail- 
able, is still the most dignified and satisfactory. Nothing 
is better than that a man should rejoice in the work of his 
own hands. The fruit of our own toil and industry, awakens 
an interest which the fruits of another cannot. A garden 
cultivated with our own hands, possesses attractions for us 
which another's cannot possess. 

The prejudice which in many communities and certain 
classes exists against labor, is the result of a false and super- 
ficial education. As if freedom from labor, a kind of gen- 
teel idleness, were the criterion of gentility and refinement ! 
There are individuals, calling themselves gentlemen, who walk 
about with gloved hands, as if they feared the sun would soil 
their immaculate dignity, who think labor beneath them. 
But though such, in their own estimation at least, may be 
gentlemen, they are not men ; for a man never regards him- 
self above labor, above the use of the axe, the saw, the spade, 
the hoe. The most pitiable and contemptible specimen of 
humanity, is a person too lazy or too proud to work. Such 
individuals are beneath contempt. The lowest orders of day- 
laborers are worthy of more respect, as they certainly possess 
and exhibit more true dignity of character, and render them- 
selves more useful to their race. But labor, physical labor, 
the cultivation of the soil, as well as of many of the more 
toilsome of the mechanic arts, is commended to us by the 
example of the wise and good in every age of the world. 

Who was the prime minister of Egypt, at a period of un- 
paralleled importance in its history ? A young man whose 
early training had been among his father's flocks. Who was 
Israel's deliverer and lawgiver? A man who for forty years 
watched his flocks as they fed and reposed in the valleys 
around Sinai and Horeb. Who was George Washington — 
the father of his country, the glory of his race, and the hero 
of the world ? A Virginia farmer? And what was Benjamin 
Franklin, the American philosopher and sage, but a practical 
printer? And who was William Carey, the apostle to India 



336 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

— a man who was as familiar with the difficult dialects of the 
East as with the alphabet of his own mothei tongue? A 
shoemaker and shoe-mender.* 

Go into a village in Massachusetts, upon a spring or sum- 
mer morning, before the sun has kissed the dew from the 
tender grass, and you will meet a man of rustic, farmer-like 
appearance, passing through the streets with the implements 
of husbandry upon his shoulder. That man is Moses Stuart 
— known over the world as the most diligent of American 
students, as the most critical of American scholars. 

Go into one of our New England cities, and look into a 
garden. You will see there a robust, healthy-looking man, 
throwing up the soil with the spade. That man is Francis 
Wayland, known over the world as the author of the 
" Moral Science. " 

The example of Elihu Burrit need scarcely be referred to. 
Until within a few years, he was scarcely known beyond the 
precincts of his own town. Mr. Everett, in one of his ora- 
tions, as illustrative of the reward of application, chanced to 
mention that there was in the town of Worcester, a man 
working ten hours every day at the forge, who had made 
himself acquainted with forty languages and dialects. The 
world of letters were astonished at the announcement, and 
demanded to see the man. So the mechanic, laying aside 
his leathern apron, and leaving his hammer upon the anvil, 
conscious of his strength, stepped from the forge to the forum. 
The world saw, heard, wondered, and acknowledged him — 
a man — a man of mind — of thought — of letters — and writing 
his name high up in the temple of science, entwined it with 
a wreath of Fame. 

"But he, in the spirit of true greatness, laid all this aside to 
find his proper dignity as a man — as a mechanic ; and soon 
the redoubling strokes of his hammer, and the glowing heat 

* After Dr. Carey arrived in India so poor and dependent was he, that 
he was obliged to resort to his trade for support, and put out his sign, 
" Shoes made and mended here." 



ALBER T GALLA TIN PALMER, D. D. 337 

of his fire, told that Elihu Burrit was still a man ; and that 
if the man of science and letters could not be concealed be- 
neath the mingled dust and sweat of the forge, neither should 
the mechanic be lost behind the laurels of literary preferment. 
Elihu Burrit has done much for the world ; but if God spares 
his life — and long may he be spared — he is destined to do 
more than he has yet done. Would you know what he is 
doing ? Read his Christian Citizen, and especially his Advo- 
cate of Peace. Modest, unassuming, and even retiring; yet 
free, familiar, and conversational, with a mind strong, deep, 
and full — if not rapid and impetuous, yet by its volume irre- 
sistible — he carries in himself at least a partial contradiction 
of his own favorite theory, "fit non nascitur," for he evi- 
dently was both born and made. 

Gentlemen of this Association, you have assumed a stand- 
ing in this community worthy of yourselves, and worthy too 
of that extended brotherhood of workingmen in this country, 
of which you form a part. Maintain, then, the position 
which you have taken as a " Mechanics' and Workingmen's 
Literary Association." Nor be contented with the name; 
but seek after truth, and gather up knowledge as your choicest 
treasure. Remember that the union of labor with literature, 
of sound learning and intelligence with industrial enterprise, 
whether in the field or mechanic shop, upon the land or sea, 
in the cabin or forecastle, is equally the hope of our country 
and the world. Let your moments of physical relaxation, 
instead of being squandered and lost, be devoted to the im- 
provement of your minds ; and your moments of release 
from mental application to the discipline and improvement 
of the body. Thus you will furnish to yourselves, at least, 
satisfactory evidence that the laws of physical and mental 
development are harmonious in their action and reciprocal 
in their influence, and that it requires both the power of labor 
and thought, the combined strength of body and mind, fully 
to answer the end of our being. 

Let the page of inspiration guide you. Get wisdom, get 
29 



338 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

understanding. If thou seek her as for hid treasures, slie 
will be found of thee ; but if thou forsake her, she will cast 
thee off forever. 

Be true to yourselves, your families, your country, your 
God. In your civil relations be independent and manly — 
the dupes of no party, the slaves of no policy. Suffer no man 
as a partisan to approach you. The man who solicits your 
votes for himself or party, is the very man who is unworthy 
of your confidence. Let your intelligence and known inde- 
pendence of character render you inaccessible to this most 
unworthy and worthless class of men.* You have only to 
read, think, know, and act for yourselves, and they will 
cease to trouble you. 

In your spiritual relations, act for God, for truth, and for 
eternity. And above all things, " beware lest any man spoil 
you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition 
of men, after the rudiments of this world, and not after 
Christ." In your domestic relations, act for your families 
and with your wives. Strive above all things to leave them 
the best of all heritages — an intelligent moral and religious 
character, protected in their civil rights by institutions of 
righteousness and truth. 

* " You cannot fathom your own minds. There is a well of thought 
that has no bottom. The more you draw from it, the more clear and fruit- 
ful will it be. If you neglect to think for yourself, you will never know 
what you are capable of. At first your thoughts will come out in lumps 
homely and shapeless; but no matter. Learn to think, and think for 
yourselves." 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 339 



EXEGESIS. 



i PETER 3 : 19 and 4 : 6. 

Read before the Ministers' Monday Club of 
Westerly, R. I., and also before the Baptist 
Ministerial Conference of Eastern Connecticut 
at New London, and by both bodies requested 
for publication. 

These passages have held our attention so long, and 
elicited so much critical examination, that I confess to an 
extreme diffidence in attempting to give any additional 
light thereon, especially in opposition to views advocated by 
the ripest scholarship of this scholarly age, and so ably pre- 
sented by the brethren who have preceded me. For I do 
not forget that the interpretation offered by brethren Oli- 
phant and Mead is commended and supported by a galaxy 
of names, whose scholarship and piety command my highest 
admiration, and whose exegetical authority it might seem 
presumption to call in question. 

Nevertheless, the gravity of the questions raised ; the theory 
put forth of probation after death, and the preaching of the 
gospel to the dead, from a new interpretation of these pas- 
sages, enforced by so much critical research and philological 
acumen, make it all the more needful and dutiful, that we 
should be true to our own convictions, even if we expose 
ourselves to the charge of a presumptuous temerity thereby. 
And let me say in passing, that I disclaim all pretensions to 
superior scholarship, or to ability in critical exegesis, save 



340 A MEMORIAL OF 

such as an ordinary classical and theological culture may- 
have given me. 

Now, as we all know, there are three factors of great im- 
portance in scriptural interpretation, namely : The histori- 
cal, the grammatical, and the exegettcal, 

In the historical, we deal with the times in which the 
author lived ; its outlying and concurrent literature ; its 
modes of thought and expression, and the peculiar linguistic 
idioms of the people and period. 

In the grammatical, we search out roots and stems, analyze 
verbal composition to get the radical meaning ; look closely 
at construction and syntax ; study the value of particles and 
connectives ; the modifying force of adjective and adverbial 
clauses ; weigh the force of modes and tenses, and especially 
the constructive value of participles ; and last, but not least, 
the definitive use and limiting power of the Greek article ; 
all this, and much more that we have not time to notice, 
belongs to the grammatical department of scriptural inter- 
pretation. 

In exegesis, we look into the context to find out what the 
writer is driving at ; whether the passage to be explained be- 
longs to the body of the discourse, or is simply illustrative ; 
compare it with other passages from the same author, mak- 
ing him his own expositor ; allowing him to define the 
meaning of the passage in hand, by his use of the same terms 
elsewhere, and especially from the drift and sweep of doc- 
trine and exhortation to reach a definite and satisfactory in- 
terpretation. And we may add to these, the period in which 
the book or epistle was written ; the writer himself, his 
nationality, his culture, his educational training, his pre- 
sumptive habits of thought and expression ; then the persons 
or people to whom the writer addresses himself, their intel- 
lectual and religious status ; their civil state, their persecu- 
tions and sufferings and martyrdoms. Any attempt to ex- 
plain a book of the New Testament, or indeed, any book of 
the Bible, without a due regard to the modifying influence 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 341 

of these outlying and underlying forces must be very imper- 
fect and liable to be utterly false and misleading. 

Within these lines then, let us address ourselves to the 
study of these passages, with the single purpose of learning 
what they teach by a true historical, grammatical, and exe- 
getical interpretation. 

The writer is the Apostle Peter ; the same to whom the 
Master said : "When thou wast young, thou girdedst thy- 
self and walkedst whither thou wouldest ; but when thou 
shalt be old, another shall gird thee and lead thee whither 
thou wouldest not. This he spake, signifying by what death 
he should glorify God." 

Peter was now an old man and about to put off his taber- 
nacle of the flesh as the Lord had shown him. And so with 
martyrdom before him, he addresses this epistle of counsel 
and encouragement to the disciples scattered through the 
provinces of Asia Minor, that they might have in remem- 
brance his words after his decease or " exodon," and so be 
prepared to follow him to the heathen tribunals for trial and 
condemnation, and thence to prison and martyrdom. 

This is the ground tone of the epistle and the key to many 
of its peculiar words and phrases. What intensity of mean- 
ing is given to 1 Peter 1:7, " dia puros," by fire \ 4 : 12, 
" purosis," the burning, fiery trial, when we bear in mind 
that those to whom these words were addressed interpreted 
them under the lurid flames of martyrdom ! They knew what 
the " trial by fire" and what the burning ox fiery trial meant. 
Peter reminds that this "purosis" was no strange thing. 
All over the Roman empire the fires of martyrdom were 
kindled, and the same sufferings were accomplished in their 
brethren as in them, and that they should rejoice that they 
were counted worthy to be partakers of Christ's sufferings, 
that when his glory should be revealed the} - might be glad 
with exceeding joy. 

The best authorities fix the date of this epistle beween the 
years a. d. 64 and 68, synchronizing with the persecution of 



342 ^ MEMORIAL OF 

Christians by sword and flame, over the whole face of the 
Roman empire, from the Mediterranean to the Tiber, and 
from the tribunals of the Herods in Jerusalem and Caesarea, 
to the judgment seat of Caesar at Rome. 

The words "logos" and apologia" and "krima and kri- 
thosi," are not fully understood until we see their judicial 
signification. They are terms of Roman jurisprudence, and 
they bring us into the presence of the Roman tribunal, where 
the Christians are being tried and judged. 

And so Peter writes : " Be always ready to give apologian, 
an answer, to every one that asketh a logon, reason, of the 
hope that is within you." It is a judicial examination to 
which these terms belong, and one has but to open Mosheim's 
history of the first three centuries to find this view abund- 
antly confirmed. My apology for dwelling so long upon the 
historical aspect, is its great value in the work of a true in- 
terpretation, and what has been said is but an intimation of 
the wealth of historical illustration that lies unused to a 
great extent around every part of the word of God. 

The great desideratum of biblical literature at the present 
time is an exhaustive historical exposition of the holy writ- 
ings, both of the Old and New Testaments, especially of the 
latter. 

Let us proceed now to a grammatical and exegetical exam- 
ination of these passages, i Peter 3 : 18, 19, and 4 : 6, 
upon which modern scholarship has bestowed an amount of 
critical labor accorded to few other passages in the word of 
Gcd ; an indication of their great doctrinal value, and of the 
grave responsibility of finding a true interpretation. Let us 
be reverent and prayerful to know the mind of God therein. 

The eighteenth verse -is a word of encouragement to those 
who were suffering under false accusations, as " kakapoioi," 
evil-doers. Peter reminds them that even Christ suffered 
once for our sins, the just for the unjust, " thanatotheis men 
sarki zoopoietheis de to pneumati," "put to death in the fiesh, 
but quickened, 7nade alive, in the spirit." Now if, as claimed 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 343 

by the advocates of preaching to the dead, and authorized by 
the New Version, Christ's own spirit was quickened, or made 
alive, then I submit that his spirit must have died. For evi- 
dently the phrases put to death, " thanatotheis " and made 
alive " zoopoietheis " are the antithetical words of the pas- 
sage. That which was made alive, died. But as the death 
was physical, so the quickening must be and must mean the 
resurrection of Christ's body by the Spirit of God. It seems 
to me this is beyond a question. 

1 Cor. 15 : 36 confirms this view, " Thou fool, that which 
thou sowest is not zoopoietai, made alive, except it die." 

Also 1 Cor. 15 : 22, ■ " As in Adam ail died, so in Christ 
shall all be zoopoiesontai, made alive. ' ' 

Also Rom. 8 : n, " But if the Spirit of him that raised 
up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, he also that raised up 
Christ from the dead, shall zoopoiesai, make alive your mortal 
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. ' ' 

This passage affirms that Christ was raised from the dead 
by the Spirit of God, and so confirms the above interpreta- 
of 1 Peter 3 : 18, namely, that though Christ was put to 
death in the flesh, yet he was made alive or raised, from the 
dead by the Spirit of God ; though "crucified in weakness, 
yet he liveth by the power of God " (2 Cor. 13 : 4). 

Also John 5 : 21, " For as the Father raiseth up the dead 
and maketh them alive, so also the Son maketh alive, zoo- 
poiei, whom he will." Other passages might be cited, but 
these are sufficient to justify the criticism made above, 
namely, that the phrase, " zoopoietheis en to pneumati" can- 
not be interpreted to mean that Christ was made alive in his 
spiritual nature, but that he was made alive from the dead 'by 
the Spirit of God. The antithesis is between a physical death 
and a physical resurrection. If this exegesis be true, and I 
do not see that any other is possible, then the passage needs 
no further explanation. 

For the sake of brevity and clearness let us freely para- 
phrase ver. 19, 20 : " By this same Spirit which raised Christ 



344 A. MEMORIAL OF 

from the dead, he preached to the spirits in prison during 
their disobedience in the days of Noah, when the long-suffering 
of God waited hapax, once for all, while the ark was prepar- 
ing," etc., etc. I submit that the time of their disobedience 
and of their being preached to are inseparably bound together 
by the laws of syntax and grammatical construction. 

The adverbs, " pote," "hole," and hapax, ''during" 
"when," and "once for all," limit their probational dis- 
obedience to the building of the ark and make final the 
waiting of the long-suffering of God in the days of Noah. 

This probationary preaching was "hapax" once for all, 
and never to be repeated. 

That this is the definite meaning of " hapax " will not, I 
think, be questioned after an examination of the passages in 
which the word is found. Heb. 6:4, It is impossible for 
those who were "hapax" "once," enlightened. Heb. 9 : 
7, But into the second tabernacle went the high priest alone 
"hapax," "once," every year. Heb. 9: 26, But now 
"hapax," "once," in the end of the world hath Christ 
appeared. Heb. 9 : 27, As it is appointed to men "hapax" 
"once," to die, so Christ was "hapax," "once," offered. 
Heb. 12 : 26, Yet "hapax," "once," more, I shake not the 
earth only, but also heaven. Jude 3, The faith " hapax" 
"once" delivered to the saints. 1 Peter 3 : 18, Christ suf- 
fered "hapax," "once," for our sins. Now I submit that 
this word '' hapax," "once," and once for all, confirms the 
exegesis, that the probation of these disobedient spirits was 
limited to the preaching of Noah, and was "once for all" 
* never to be repeated. If this be true, the case is closed and 
nothing further need be said. If God waited " once for all," 
with these disobedient spirits while the ark was preparing, 
then a second probation is an impossibility, and the assumed 
mission of Christ to hades is not only without support, but 
has not the apology of a pardonable mistake. 

There is a line of criticism supporting the above, from the 
use of participles with a finite verb. The rule is " that par- 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D. D. 345 

ticiples are in time relation with the finite verb with which 
they are in construction. As in the case in hand, Christ 
preached to the disobedient spirits, while the long-suffering of 
God waited once in the days of Noah. Confirmatory of this 
in 2 Peter 2:5, Noah is called a kerux, a preacher of right- 
eousness to these very spirits. And we can but ask, Why 
should this perverse generation, the wickedest the world ever 
saw, so corrupt and abominable that God was constrained to 
say that it repented him that he had made man, above all 
others be made the subject of a second probation and of a 
special mission from Christ during the brief period between 
his death and resurrection ? In Matt. 24 : 37, our Lord brings 
forward these antediluvian sinners and their doom as a warn- 
ing to those of that generation who were ripening for a sim- 
ilar condemnation. Would he have done so just upon the 
verge of a mission of special grace to them ? Only the most 
positive authority of the Scriptures can justify such an inter- 
pretation, much less its affirmation as an article of faith and 
of a new departure in our preaching, of a probation after 
death. In 2 Peter 2 : 5-9, it is said, He spared not the old 
world, but saved Noah a preacher of righteousness, bringing 
in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and that he 
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to 
reserve the just to the day of judgment to be punished. Has 
God changed his policy? We cannot so think, and we shall 
be constrained to wait other authority than that furnished by 
the liberal exegesis of this passage before we venture to preach 
the new evangel of a probation after death. 

If now this view be correct and 1 Peter 3 : 19, and 1 Peter 
4: 6, are, as claimed, logically and grammatically connected, 
then the latter passage, 4 : 6, finds its explanation in 3:19, 
and nothing further need be said. 

But inasmuch as 4 : 6 is claimed as the proof text for 
preaching to the dead, and as its construction is peculiar 
and somewhat obscure, I submit the following grammatical 
analysis ; 



346 A MEMORIAL OF 

By " the living and dead " in verse 5, is doubtless meant 
the whole race. " Gar for" connects verse 6 with verse 5. 
" Bis touto" " to this end or purpose." " Evenggelisthe" 
" was the gospel preached," is the aorist passive, indefinite 
past time. " Kai" "and," is intensive, and maybe ren- 
dered also, indeed, even, or moreover. " Hina" that, in 
order that. " Krithosi" might be judged, aorist subjunctive, 
indefinite past time like evenggelisthe on which it depends. 
" Kata anthropous sarki" is an adverbial phrase limiting 
" krithosi. ' ' Judged according to men in the flesh, or judged 
man ward, on the human side. " Men and de" are particles 
of antithesis. "Men" to be rendered indeed or truly, and 
" de" denoting antithesis, ' ' but, " " contrariwise. " " Zosi, ' ' 
" might live" present subjunctive, but looking to the future. 
"Kata Theon Pnemnati" according to God in the Spirit, 
an adverbial adjunct limiting zosi. 

From this we gather the following paraphrase : Who shall 
give account to him who is ready or prepared to judge the 
living and the dead, /. e., mankind. For to this end was the 
gospel also preached to the dead (while living in indefinite 
past time), that they might be judged (at the same indefinite 
past time), according to men in the flesh (/. e., manward 
judged, tried, and condemned to suffer martyrdom), but live 
according to God in the Spirit ; that is, although like Christ 
adjudged to die and put to death in the flesh, they should 
live God ward, through the Spirit, "planted in the likeness 
of his death," "raised in the likeness of his resurrection." 
" If we died in him, we shall also live in him." 

Let us recapitulate and bring into one view the points 
claimed as established in this paper. 

1. It is claimed that in 1 Peter 3:18, the Greek words 
thanatotheis and zoopoietheis, " put to death and made alive," 
are the antithetical members of the passage, and that as 
"thanatotheis" put to death, means a physical death, so 
" zoopoietheis" must mean made alive in the body, for if the 
spirit was made alive, then the spirit must have died. 



ALBERT GALLATIN PALMER, D .1). 347 

2. I claim that pnewnasi, "spirits," and apeithesasi. "dis- 
obedient," are in grammatical construction bound in time 
relation to the finite verb ekereuen, "he preached," to the 
disobedient spirits. 

3. That the time of disobedience and preaching was limited 
to the long suffering of God in the days of Noah. 

4. And that this long suffering was probational, , " hapax" 
once for all, and ended when Noah entered the ark ; and 
that the preaching ended when God said : "My Spirit shall 
no longer strive with man." 

5. That " zoopoietheis" " made alive," is to be interpreted 
of a physical quickening, is confirmed by verse 21, where it 
is said we are saved by baptism, as it symbolizes not the 
quickening of Christ's spirit, but the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead. 

6. Also by Rom. 8: 11, where it is positively affirmed, 
"that the Spirit of God raised Christ from the dead," and 
that in like manner this same Spirit shall quicken our mortal 
bodies. 

7. Illustrative of the same point are 1 Tim. 3 : 16, Justified 
in the spirit; Heb. 9: 14, Who through the eternal spirit 
offered himself; Rom. 1 : 4, Declared to be the Son of God 
in power according to the spirit of holiness through the res- 
urrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ; Eph. 1 : 20, Accord- 
ing to the inworking of the mighty power which he wrought 
in Jesus Christ, whom he raised from the dead. 

Thus much for the first passage, 1 Peter 3:18, 19. 

And now of 1 Peter 4 : 6, I claim : 

1. That " eveng$elisthe" the gospel was preached aorist 
passive, denotes completed action in indefinite past time, and 
cannot therefore be anchored to a few days between the 
death and resurrection of Christ, and that krithosi, "might 
be judged," aorist passive subjunctive, fixes the judging at 
the same time. Peter says the gospel was preached to the 
great army of martyrs whose faith and sufferings are chroni- 
cled in Heb. n. 



348 A MEMORIAL OF 

2. I claim that the Greek words krinai, krima, and 
hrithosi are judicial terms, such as are found in Xenophon's 
fi Memorabilia," where he describes the trials and condemn- 
ation of Socrates, and that they bring us into the presence 
of the Roman tribunal where Christians are tried and judged 
and sent to prison and martyrdom. 

In the same sense that the gospel was preached beforehand 
to Abraham it was preached through the anti-Christian cen- 
turies, and with the same result of trial, imprisonment, con- 
fiscations, banishment, and death. "Ye shall be hated of 
all men for my name's sake." Hence Peter's emphatic ex- 
hortation : " Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the 
flesh, " hoplisasthe" arm yourselves with the same mind." 
This truth underlies the whole gospel. It is the cross and 
the crown; the martyrs coming up out of great tribulation, 
having washed their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb, swelling the chorus of the new song, "Unto 
him who loved and gave himself for us and made us kings 
and priests unto God be riches and honor and dominion for- 
ever and ever." 

Judged " kata anthropous" or man ward and sentenced to 
prison and martyrdom. But " kata Theon" Godward, that 
they might live again and live forever through the resurrec- 
tion power of the Spirit of God. 

In a word, these passages are the epitomised history of 
Christ's writhing and suffering church. " Kata anthropous 
sarki" condemned, sent to prison, to the stake or to the 
lions, but "Kata Theon Pneumati" according to God's 
jurisprudence, though they suffer and die with and for the 
sake of Christ, they shall rise and live and reign with him 
and die no more. " Hoplisasthe" arm yourselves, says 
Peter, for suffering and martyrdom. And the voice of the 
risen and ascended and glorified Saviour is, "I am he that was 
dead but am alive again, and have the keys of death and hell. 
Be thou faithful unto death [martyrdom], and I will give thee 
a crown of life." 



DEC 23 190] 



